An initial two-week delay in the UK’s strawberry harvest is set to prompt “bigger and riper” fruits, say British farmers.

Despite wet weather earlier in the year causing delays, one Kent farm said they had employed polytunnels to help the strawberries grow.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the farm’s commercial director James Miller said: “We’re lucky to have all of our production covered, so the rain hasn’t directly impacted the fruit.”

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“We haven’t seen any extreme weather, such as big frosts, which means the plants aren’t stressed – the fruit will be good.”

“In fact, the extra rain has been good for reservoir quantity. We may have to wait a little bit longer for strawberries but they’ll be bigger and riper than usual.”

The harvest delay is understood to not impact summer’s supply of strawberry. The UK is self-sufficient in producing about 230m punnets between May and October, the British Berry Growers said.

The news follow last year’s challenges where unexpected weather in the UK and Spain saw supermarkets ration fruit and veg supplies.

Earlier this year, Co-op became the first retailer to switch to 100% British strawberries across its entire own-brand range.