A FARM has become the first in Bolton to bottle and sell its own raw milk.

Deardens Farm in Over Hulton obtained its licence to sell the unpasteurised product earlier this year and has begun providing it at its shop in Manchester Road.

The farm and shop is run by owner Michael Partington, who took it over from his parents in 2005, along with his family.

He said: "Farms have been able to create and sell raw milk for a long time and you need to have a special licence.

"We have been wanting to do it for quite a while. My daughter Fiona is a bit of a driving force and she got things rolling.

"We got our licence in early February and we began to sell it from our shop.

"Raw milk is exactly the same as any kind of milk but pasteurised has been heated up to between 72 degrees and 75 degrees.

"That is the only difference. Apart from that, it is exactly the same.

"The raw milk comes from the cow, it gets filtered and then it is bottled. There is no heating process."

Raw milk has been the subject of debate among the farming community in recent years.

There are some who claim the product could be harmful, as it is not pasteurised.

The pasteurisation process heats the milk up and destroys some of the micro-organisms, which could cause diseases.

But many people, including Mr Partington, said there were a number of health benefits from drinking raw milk.

He said: "It is good for people with eczema. We have had people coming in who have had problems with their skin and they have drunk raw milk for a fortnight and been cured.

"And also there are people who are lactose intolerant are actually affected by milk that is pasteurised."

"It is a good product and people should be allowed to have it if they want to. We do put labels on the bottle telling people it could contain some micro-organisms. We have to do that by law."

Mr Partington said he would be giving away a free litre of milk this Thursday to anyone who goes down to the shop and asks for one.

The business launched its new product not long before the farm's future was put into doubt after Peel's plan for a Ryder Cup golf course and 1,036 homes in Hulton Park was given the green light.

The Partington family have been running Deardens Farm 1955 and has won awards for both its milk and ice cream.

Mr Partington, aged 55, took over from his mum Patricia and dad John in 2005.

He runs the dairy business with his wife Anne-Marie, aged 50, and his five children Nicola, 26, Rebecca, 24, Fiona, 22, Laura, 18, and 10-year-old Thomas.