A farming family in Mid Wales says costly work to meet new anti-pollution regulations will "cripple the industry".

The rules, extended this year to cover the whole of Wales, mean farmers have to meet strict guidelines on water safety or risk breaking the law.

Farmers' unions have led calls opposing the expansion of the NVZ (Nitrate Vulnerable Zone) regulations to cover the entire country, including in areas where there were no existing problems with water pollution from agriculture.

The Welsh Government has defended the expansion as necessary, saying evidence showed pollution from poor practice was being seen across the whole of Wales.

The regulations are "vital" for sustainable food production and will be brought in via a phased approach, "providing time for farm businesses to adjust," a government spokesman said, during which time farmers are being offered financial support and guidance.

But this has not prevented criticism of the regulations. Leading members of the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) have called the new Wales-wide NVZ policy "wrong and disproportionate" and said they are opposed almost universally by Welsh farmers.

And another union, the National Farmers' Union (NFU Cymru) is launching a legal challenge against what it called the Welsh Government's "indiscriminate and punitive" decision to extend the NVZ boundaries to affect every farm in Wales, regardless of their track record with water safety.

In Montgomeryshire, tenant farmer Bryan Jones said his family was struggling to work out how costly works to meet tougher rules on the storing and use of slurry and fertiliser could be paid for.