A farmer at the centre of a row over genetically modified crops has accused environmental campaigners of resorting to "fear tactics" and misinformation.

Christopher Lewis sparked a wave of controversy after planting test crops of GM maize and oil seed rape on his land at Glebe Farm, near the south Oxfordshire villages of Longworth and Hinton Waldrist.

Villagers and protesters from the pressure group Friends of the Earth packed a meeting in Longworth Village Hall on Thursday night to oppose the tests, which were sown as part of Government-backed trials to examine their impact on the environment.

But Mr Lewis claimed protesters had resorting to hate mail and "bad science."

He said: "If you tell people something will kill them, they will take it seriously, regardless of the facts.

"I have been on this farm since 1959 and my mission has always been to leave the world a better place than when I arrived. But I am told we are trying to kill everything and grow crops for greed."

An informal door-to-door survey conducted by the pressure group Hinton and Longworth Against the GM Trials, showed 47 per cent of villagers questioned were against the trials.

A further 26 per cent wanted more information, and only ten per cent supported the tests.