INSPECTORS said they were “shocked and appalled” by conditions inside a free-range chicken farm.

Animal activists stormed Hoads Farm near Rye in the early hours of this morning and took pictures of chicken corpses strewn across the floor.

They sent the footage to RSPCA Assured, which is tasked with maintaining animal welfare in farms, and the watchdog quickly took action.

A spokeswoman for the organisation said: “We are shocked and appalled by this footage and we understand why people are upset. Any allegations of poor welfare issues on RSPCA Assured certified farms are taken extremely seriously, which is why we have suspended the farm whilst we urgently investigate.”

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A large group of 150 activists from Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) Brighton entered the farm at 6am today and used cameras and phones to capture the scene.

Six members of the group also chained themselves together at the driveway of the farm where they remained for more than five hours, stopping vehicles entering and leaving the premises.

The group said it has been conducting an undercover investigation into Hoads Farm for several months.

A spokesman said: “We visited Hoads Farm multiple times over six months.

“Many of the hens’ cloacae, from which their eggs are laid, were visibly infected, bleeding and swollen from forced overproduction.

“In the disease-ridden conditions, many piles of dead birds were found in the walkways among the living hens, and each time that we visited we found the same and new bodies decomposing.

“The dead will have died in pain.

“We have taken action today that some may see as radical, but our actions must match the severity of what takes place behind those walls.”

On its website, Hoads Farm states: “Hoads Farm was first established in 1978 and helped pioneer the growth in commercial free range egg production.

“Today, we remain relatively unique in that we have never compromised our values, having only ever sold genuine free range eggs.

“It is these values for animal welfare, high quality standards and sustainability that underpin how the business is run to this day.”

The farm was contacted by The Argus and said it would release a statement later in the day.

But a comment has not been received.

At about 11am, 20 DxE Brighton members took images of the farm to a Sainsbury’s store in Hastings and held them up as they stood in a line in the egg aisle.