A DALTON father and son farming partnership has successfully overturned a ban on keeping cattle after a court heard the order was too strict. 

William Parker Jnr, 34, and his father William Parker Snr, 57, were banned from keeping any animals for four years after they pleaded guilty to a total of 30 offences under animal welfare, cattle identification, animal health and animal by-products legislation. 

Parker Jnr is serving a 16-month prison sentence and his father a six-month suspended sentence after Judge Jaqueline Beech, sentencing, told them at a previous hearing: “You have brought farming into disrepute and given farmers a bad name.” 

But at a hearing at Preston Crown Court yesterday, Recorder Paul O’Brien lifted the ban in its entirety, saying it was not necessary to the justice of the case to ban the farmers from keeping animals . 

Animal welfare inspectors from Cumbria County Council’s Trading Standards visited Greenhills House, Greystone Lane, Dalton, following a complaint in July 2014. 

They discovered five young bulls had been subjected to DIY castrations - without the use of anaesthetic. 

Decomposing cattle carcasses were found in the farm buildings and officers raised concerns about the identity of a number of the animals. 

Records were requested but the information provided was falsified and on closer inspection several of the cattle appeared to be older than their registered age. 

The court heard Trading Standards officers had been involved with the farm on a number of previous occasions and Parker Jnr had a previous conviction for animal cruelty dating back to 2006 - relating to four sheep under his control. 

Following their convictions, Councillor John McCreesh, Cumbria County Council cabinet member responsible for Trading Standards, said: Family farms are the backbone of the livestock industry in Cumbria. 

"The vast majority conduct their business to high welfare standards and in accordance with the law, ensuring that their animals are well cared for, so that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy, and the wider agricultural community is protected from the risk of disease."