Polish farmers pelted the agricultural minister, Jacek Janiszewski, with eggs in a protest to demand government action against cheap food imports.

The farmers also burnt an effigy of the deputy premier, Leszek Balcerowicz, who is in charge of economic affairs.

Several thousand farmers from across Poland had gathered in Warsaw for the protest, despite the bitterly cold weather.

They presented the government with a petition asking that they be protected in Poland's negotiations for European Union membership.

Correspondents say, that the country's huge agricultural sector will be a key issue in the negotiations with the EU.