It may seem like an odd time to be rolling out the apples, but cider season has come early for one Kent producer.

Badgers Hill Farm at Chilham, near Canterbury, has been struck by a sudden high demand for bottles of its home-grown nectar, and has been forced to change its normal schedule of October to November right up to May.

Bruce De Courcey, one of the farm’s partners, said: “I have worked here for 20 years and this is the first time we have had to make cider in May.

“There was a higher demand since we re-opened the farm shop in March but it was particularly high during the very warm weather at the beginning of May.”

The work involves the crushing of apples and fermenting the juice, and the farm produces home-made Pippin cider from apples grown on the farm.