GOVERNMENT approval to allow genetically modified maize to be grown in the UK has been met with fierce opposition in Dorset.

Anti GM campaigners who protested through years of trials including those at Blandford, Sherborne and Puddletown said yesterday's announcement flew in the face of widespread public opinion.

And even many of the farmers who conducted the trials said questions about the technology had been left unanswered, especially as the pesticide altrazine used in the tests on conventional maize grown to compare with the GM variety, was being banned by the EU in 2006.

Keith Hatch, from the GM Free South West Campaign, said: "The decision shows complete contempt for the views of the vast majority of people within the UK.

"Councils in the South West including Dorset have been listening to the public and making moves to become GM-free yet the government is more interested in the interests of large biotech companies than the genuine concerns of the electorate."

Bob Walter, MP for North Dorset, argued for further consultation before any GM crop was sown in Dorset.

He said: "GM crops could potentially be of great benefit to consumers, farmers and the Third World. There needs to be open and transparent consultation before any application in Dorset is granted."

Owen Yeatman, chairman of Dorset National Farmers Union and farmer who conducted a GM trial, said: "I think it's a step in the right direction. I think people are unnecessarily afriad and it could be useful."