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Brenda Waterman with a Buff turkey.

Those who want a traditional British turkey on their Christmas table this year will have to hunt a little harder as the UK's native breeds are in danger of dying out within ten years.

Experts at the Rare Breeds Survival Trust say all ten British breeds are classed as 'priority' on their annual watchlist and numbers have dropped to dangerously low levels.

Turkeys like the Bourbon Red, Buff and British White were a common sight at Christmas dinner in the 1960s and '70s but the breeds have been steadily pushed out over the last 30 years as commercial farmers created hybrid birds that grow quicker and bigger, making them cheaper to produce.

Ian and Brenda Waterman at Heritage Turkeys, near Lyme Regis in Dorset, decided to start keeping their own turkeys after a disappointing Christmas dinner in 2004.

Now they are one of the only turkey breeders in the country who have all the British native breeds.