But now South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) has confirmed that last month alone 12 customers fell ill with campylobacter bacteria, with another 53 suspected cases recorded also in December - taking the total to 65 people laid low by the contaminated batch of raw milk.

Sales from the farm's raw milk vending machine have been banned pending tests and farm owner Richard Park said he was co-operating with an investigation led by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

A spokesman for SLDC said the farm would not be allowed to sell any more raw milk until tests showed no further traces of the bacteria.

Those affected range in age from a one-year-old to 86. None of the victims needed hospital treatment.

Initially six cases were being investigated, but results from an online questionnaire pushed the figure up to 65 - 12 of which have now been confirmed by the authority.