Hundreds of truckles of cheddar worth more than £300,000 have been stolen from London cheese specialist Neal’s Yard Dairy.

Fraudsters posing as legitimate wholesalers received the 950 clothbound cheeses from the Southwark-based company before it was realised they were a fake firm.

Neal’s Yard said it had still paid the producers of the cheese so the individual dairies would not have to bear the costs.

It is now trying to deal with the financial setback, a spokesperson said.