THERE will be no milk deliveries today until late afternoon. And at least one roundsman is considering putting off his until the evening to avoid leaving milk on doorsteps in the sun.

Another, Garry Falla, who owns a 440-customer round in the north of the island, has already had several cancelled orders.

‘By mid-afternoon a number of customers had called to say they did not want any more milk until the Dairy has sorted themselves out. I am starting to lose business and am sure I am not the only one,’ he said.

‘It is not the public’s fault as they don’t know whether the milk is safe to drink.’

The six-hour delay to deliveries is the knock-on effect of the Dairy’s announcement not to release milk before 11am because of the ongoing problem of abnormal bacteria levels in some varieties.

Richard Nash, director of the client services unit at Commerce and Employment, said the Dairy was getting closer to identifying the problem but until it was rectified, the revised testing procedure would lead to delays.

Under normal conditions, the daily milk production is analysed as a quality control, with full results not available until after it has been distributed.

He said that the Dairy was carefully run, with strict hygiene procedures.

But at the first sign of problems, the whole testing procedure was brought forward and completed before release as a precautionary measure.

Mr Nash said staff had been analysing every aspect of the Dairy’s operation. He hoped the problem would be rectified within 24 hours but it was impossible to be certain of that.

Today marks the third day of problems.

On Tuesday red and green milk dated 15 July was recalled after tests revealed a higher than average bacteria count and yesterday only blue and green milk was available, three hours late.

Guernsey Milk Retailers’ Association committee member Ian Wood said it was anyone’s guess as to what would be available today and at what time.

The delay to 11am has been attributed to a later start to processing yesterday and the need to wait for overnight laboratory tests to be completed.