More than 5,000 very young calves discarded by the dairy industry were packed into lorries last year and sent on journeys from Scotland to Spain lasting up to 135 hours, government documents have revealed.

The live export of calves almost doubled compared with 2016 and may continue indefinitely because of a dispute between Westminster and the Scottish government over whether it should be banned after Brexit.

Some of the unweaned male calves will not survive the journey and the remainder are likely to spend the rest of their short lives in barren pens, which would be illegal in the UK, before being slaughtered for veal or beef, according to the animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming. A petition calling for the live export of