A fruit grower has picked up a lifetime achievement award after a career spanning more than three decades.

Clive Goatham, senior partner at AC Goatham & Son, based in Hoo, picked up the prize at the Fresh Produce Journal’s UK Fruit and Vegetable Awards on Thursday.

He took over the business from his father Arthur Conference Goatham, who founded the company in 1947, and runs it today with his son Ross.

In the last 25 years, the firm has gone from two farms to 17, with another 20 partner farms across Kent.

It grows one in every three British conference pears and more than one in every five British apples sold in the UK.

Mr Goatham picked up the prize at the UK Fruit Vegetable Congress at the Belfry Hotel near Birmingham, where the firm also won Fruit Grower of the Year and The Total Produce Award for Best Supporter of British.

Ross Goatham said: “I am especially pleased that my dad, Clive, has received this fantastic recognition from his industry peers, for his lifetime’s work in the top fruit industry.

“Dad has been a pioneer in top fruit, from the difficult times in the 1980s when many in the industry were grubbing out orchards or selling up, to his ongoing vision to enable the UK to one day be close to self sufficient in apples and pears, without the need to rely on foreign imports.

“Dad’s enthusiasm and passion for the industry has seen AC Goatham & Son reinvest all profits back into the business for a number of years.”

Michael Barker, editor at the Fresh Produce Journal comments: “AC Goatham & Son is one of the true pioneers in the UK apple and pear industry, and they have made a huge commitment to British production with their various investments in orchards and infrastructure. They are very well deserving of these awards.”

AC Goatham & Sons is also a finalist in another award ceremony.

It has been nominated for the Fresh Produce Consortium’s Best Place to Work Award, while its packhouse production manager Dobri Kraev is a finalist for Manager of the Year Award.

The winners will be announced at a black tie dinner in central London on June 9, 2016.