Farmers are being warned to thoroughly check their Single Application Form acknowledgment slips after a series of computer errors were discovered.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales Carmarthenshire county executive officer Meinir Bartlett said scanning errors had been found by a number of county offices across Wales.

She added: “We are particularly concerned at the sheer number of errors that we have noticed on acknowledgement slips sent out by the Assembly to our members.

“Thankfully our staff and members have spotted these by cross-checking them against photocopies of the original forms”

One Carmarthenshire member’s 74 field entries had 12 scanning errors, while another showed a 5.28hectare field scanned as one hectare. The errors found include crosses declaring the intention to claim Single Payment on four fields not scanned; a cross declaring the intention to claim Tir Mynydd on one field not scanned; details of field “statuses” not scanned on five occasions; and declaration of an intention to claim Glastir not scanned on two occasions.

Mrs Bartlett added: “When it comes to farmers making equivalent errors, they have the book thrown at them and can be fined like criminals, even for placing a single tick in the wrong box.

“For those who have lost thousands of pounds and had the viability of their businesses put on the line due to errors that everyone agrees were accidental, this will smack of one rule for them and one rule for us.”