FOREIGN meat will no longer be disguised as British after two leading supermarkets struck a deal with the Conservatives.

Despite Labour ministers claiming little could be done to ensure shoppers are not misled, Tesco and Morrisons last night signed up to the Tories' Honest Food campaign calling for labels to say if imported food is used.

Labels will include clearer information on products where the meat content is 10 per cent or higher.

And the phrase "Produced in the UK" will be replaced with "Made in the UK with meat from X" when a product processed in the UK contains non-British meat.

Westcountry farming leaders last night welcomed the move as "long overdue" but necessary to ensure shoppers got what they thought they were paying for. It is hoped the change will stop the region's farmers having to compete with cheap imports packaged to appear British.

The pledge to label food properly comes after concern that people who wanted to support British farmers were being duped into buying low-quality foreign meat, produced to lower welfare standards. The WMN's Think Local campaign has encouraged consumers to buy home-grown produce, with all food and drink labelled correctly.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco executive director of corporate and legal affairs, said: "It is very important to provide clear information so customers can make informed choices.

"In future, Tesco meat products will display more information about the country of origin, further demonstrating what can be achieved by collaboration rather than regulation."

The move by Britain's biggest supermarket chain, along with Morrisons, follows political deadlock between Labour and the Conservatives.

Shadow environment secretary Nick Herbert warned earlier this year that he would be willing to change the law to enforce compulsory country of origin labelling for meat or meat products.

But Labour ministers, including Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, claimed the plan would be illegal under EU law, despite admitting the existing rules were "a nonsense and have to change".

In addition to the agreement from Tesco and Morrisons to change their labels, the Tory Honest Food campaign has also attracted the wider support of Sainsbury's, M&S and Waitrose. Meanwhile, Asda is reviewing its labelling.

Last night, Mr Herbert said the Conservatives had succeeded where the Government failed.

"Ministers have made no credible attempt to improve country of origin labelling and it is Conservatives who are driving change for the benefit of consumers and British farmers.

"People want clear information about where their food comes from and the supermarkets are responding."

Until now, a voluntary agreement had not seemed possible, but getting Tesco and Morrisons on board was a "significant step forward".

But Mr Herbert would not rule out using legislation if the rest of the industry failed to sign up to a voluntary agreement.

Ian Johnson, spokesman for the NFU in the South West, welcomed the move by the supermarkets to change their labels: "It may be some attempt to wriggle out of any kind of regulation – which supermarkets abhor pretty much as anyone else does.

"But it is good news and long overdue. It seemed that we were bogged down in political inertia – many sympathetic words were spoken but nothing happened.

"The fact that it has been achieved, albeit belatedly, is very good news.

"If you buy something, you need to have confidence that it is what you think you are buying."

The Tory campaign has attracted the backing of a number of TV chefs, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Clarissa Dickson-Wright.

It followed shocking revelations about the way foreign meat was obscurely packaged to appear British.

It included a packet of Bird's Eye roast beef slices labelled "Great British menu" on the front but the meat was imported from overseas; a corned beef sandwich from Marks and Spencer emblazoned with a Union Flag and the phrase the "nation's favourite" but the meat was from Brazil; and a packet of bacon chops from Tesco described as "produce of Britain" but the meat could actually be from Holland, Denmark, the Republic of Ireland or Britain.