BRADFORD-BASED Morrisons supermarket chain will begin rolling out new measures to improve the safety of its chickens as soon as Monday, following a report by the Food Standards Agency that revealed the extent of infected chickens in the UK.

The report included the results of a year-long survey into levels of the potentially-deadly campylobacter drug.

Nationwide, 70 per cent of chickens were found to test positive for the bug, with 18 per cent at the highest levels.

When it came to Morrisons, 69 per cent of chickens tested positive for the bug, with 21 per cent at the highest levels.

A Morrisons spokesman said: “We have introduced a number of improvements since the FSA collected its data in August this year. From Monday, Morrisons’ packaging of whole chickens will contain stronger advice to consumers, and from January next year we will be introducing ‘roast in a bag’ to half of our range of whole chickens.

“Our own independently-verified test results, derived from a larger sample over a longer period, showed high levels in ten per cent of whole chickens.”