Mettrick's abattoir in Glossop, Derbyshire will close after over 100 years, with campaigners calling the news 'extremely worrying' for local farmers.
The abattoir is run by brothers John and Steven Mettrick, the fifth generation since the business was founded. Around 200 farmers rely on it for slaughtering.
The numbers of small abattoirs in the UK has declined dramatically in recent decades and continues to shrink by about 10% each year, according to Food Standards Agency (FSA) figures.
Campaigners say small abattoirs, essential for economic and practical reasons to supply locally-produced meat, are facing a wide range of challenges and extra costs.
The Mettrick’s cutting and packaging facility will remain open, but local farmers wishing to continue using their services will incur the additional costs of longer journeys and transporting carcases from a larger abattoir to the Glossop facility.
Jonh Mettrick said the refusal from the UK government to utilise existing legislation to support small abattoirs meant that the business had no choice but to close.
“The FSA acknowledges that the present one size fits all system does not work and through a 5-year programme say they hope to be able to deliver a risk based proportional approach to regulation in the future.
"However, this will require legislative change to have any chance of a meaningful impact," he said.
Responding to the news, the Sustainable Food Trust (SFT) said the site's closure would cause 'heartache and distress' for farmers around the area.
The closure would also spark wider anxiety amongst farmers who depend on a small abattoir in other regions, the body said.
Richard Young, SFT policy director said: “This is an extremely worrying development. If a state-of-the-art small abattoir like this is unable to continue in business, yet more closures will follow.
“This isn’t about money, it's about the government being willing to set its own, risk-based rules for small abattoirs.
"Ironically, now we have left the EU, ministers are more frightened to vary from the bureaucratic letter of EU regulations than when we had a voice in Europe.
“All food, farming and rural organisations must work together to turn this situation round. It is in no one’s interest to let small abattoirs slip away like this."
