Glastonbury chief funds bananas

Glastonbury's festival organiser has donated £74,000 of the annual music event's proceeds to the Latin American banana industry.

Michael Eavis gave the money to Banana Link to give farmers a "fairer deal".

The charity aims to help banana workers represent themselves in talks with their employers and the EU supermarkets that buy their produce.

The money will be used to employ union leaders in Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Mr Eavis said: "Farmers and farm workers, no matter where they are in the world, are entitled to a fair deal and a fair award for their skills and labours.

"It is essential that farmers and farm workers stick together and I see this gift to Banana Link as an example of us working together towards these ends."

Jacqui Mackay of Banana Link said: "This is an extraordinary act of international solidarity between people at either end of the banana supply chain illustrating the key role that British trade unions have to play in poverty alleviation in Latin America and the rest of the developing world."