British Sugar has promoted its Cantley factory manager to become the company's new agriculture director.

Daniel Green has been appointed to the role following the departure of Peter Watson, who left this month after 26 years with the business.

Mr Green's experience ranges from his family arable farming background, to various operational roles since joining British Sugar in 2003.

His most recent role was as factory manager at Cantley, by the River Yare near Acle, where British Sugar says he has been "instrumental in building and leading the team to transform the performance of all aspects of the plant".

He will now focus on working with hundreds of sugar beet growers across East Anglia who supply the company's four factories in Cantley, Wissington in west Norfolk, Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, and Newark in Nottinghamshire.

Mr Green said: “My focus is on working with our partners to share in the success of a thriving homegrown beet sugar industry.

"I want us to further strengthen collaborative relationships with growers, understand growers’ increasing costs and crop alternatives so sugar beet can be a profitable crop on farm, and continue the partnership work to improve the ‘campaign’ for all – growers, hauliers, harvesters, and processor.”

Paul Kenward, managing director of British Sugar, said: “This is an incredibly important role within British Sugar and Daniel is a natural fit.

"Farmers are our customers, who can choose whether to plant our crop, or indeed another break crop, and therefore it’s incredibly important to understand the risks and rewards of making these crop choices.

"Daniel’s farming background, together with his knowledge and experience of running one of our factories, and strong leadership skills, is integral. I wish Daniel every success in this role."

Mr Green studied chemical engineering and then joined British Sugar at Cantley in 2003. After successfully completing the firm's graduate programme he was promoted to shift manager at Wissington.

In 2012, he returned to Cantley as performance manager, and was promoted to site general manager in 2016.