by SEAN POULTER, Daily Mail

The tiny cages in which millions of egg-laying hens spend the whole of their miserable lives are to be banned in Britain, it emerged yesterday.

Agriculture Minister Elliot Morley is backing campaigners who believe that this country should do away with the factory farming regime condemned by welfare groups for decades.

But industry leaders warned that the move could cost thousands of jobs in the UK.

Stores and caterers might simply go abroad for their eggs if the cost of those produced in Britain rose sharply, they said.

EU welfare standards for laying hens due to come into force this week will ban conventional 'barren' battery cages from 2012.

However, the agriculture department in Britain, DEFRA, is set to do away with them entirely within five years.

A number of major food firms - such as Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and McDonald's - have already taken the initiative and banned battery-produced eggs.

More than 24million egg-laying birds are kept in battery cages in the UK at any one time, producing 72 per cent of the country's supplies.

Each wire cage allows 450sq cm - less space than an A4 sheet of paper - per bird. From 18 weeks of age she will remain for a year and will produce around 300 eggs.

The birds are routinely given medicated food to curtail the spread of disease in the cramped and hot conditions. There will routinely be four or five birds to a cage, but the conditions prevent normal behaviour, such as nest building, flapping wings, dust-bathing and perching.

At the end of their lives, the often emaciated birds are only fit only to be used in food processing.

Egg producers had accepted the ban on such 'barren' cages - on the basis they would be replaced with 'enriched' cages.

These would have 600sq cm per bird plus a nest box, a higher roof, some litter in a scratching area and a perch, some seven centimetres off the bottom.

But Mr Morley said yesterday that he does not believe that these are much of an advance in terms of animal welfare.

DEFRA said last night that the German government has gone further than the EU by banning all cages from 2007.

Mr Morley said: 'The UK Government has worked hard to push for barren battery cages to be banned. But I am not convinced enriched cages have any real advantages over conventional barren cages.

'I want to hear people's views on the subject to see if the UK should follow Germany and ban enriched cages too.'

The Minister has also announced an action plan to end the practice of 'beak trimming', where the tips of hens beaks are sliced off, often with a hot wire.

This is done both with battery cage hens and those raised in barn and free-range systems in order to stop the damage caused by the birds pecking each other. Peter Stevenson, spokesman for Compassion in World Farming, said: 'The battery cage system is the classic demonstration of factory farming at its worst.

'We believe the so- called enriched cages offer no worthwhile or significant welfare improvement for these hens. It appears Mr Morley has the same view, which is very positive news.

'If companies such as Marks & Spencer and McDonald's can switch to free-range eggs, there is no good reason why other mainstream supermarkets and caterers can't follow suit.

'Doing away with battery cages would be a milestone development in a shift away from factory farming.'

The British Egg Information Service, which represents farmers and packers, accused the Government of 'jumping the gun'.

Spokesman Kevin Coles said: 'It is far too early to think about banning cages completely. Important scientific research on the issue, including the impact of the enriched cages, has not even been completed.

'We believe EU welfare directives should be implemented equally throughout member states.

'If we ban cages here, that will have the effect of exporting our industry to the Continent. Supermarkets will have the option of getting cheap eggs from cage systems in Europe, that would inevitably threaten the livelihood of our egg producers.'

Mr Coles said that the enriched cages promised by the industry ensured that the hens could enjoy the so-called 'Five Freedoms', demanded by experts on the Government's Farm Animal Welfare Council.

These are the freedom from hunger and thirst; from discomfort; from pain, injury or disease; from fear and distress; and to express normal behaviour.

Concern about battery production has provoked a surge in sales of free-range eggs. Ten years ago, fewer than five per cent of the 10billion eggs we eat were free-range, but today the figure is 23 per cent.

Under the free-range regime hens are housed in barns, however they have access to a neighbouring field. This allows them to exhibit natural behaviour such as scratching the ground and flapping their wings.

Half a dozen medium battery eggs are priced at 38p in leading supermarkets, compared to 68p for the equivalent free-range eggs.