Shocking footage shows cows being horrifically beaten and stabbed at a dairy farm featured in Marks & Spencer adverts.

An undercover investigation by animal rights activist Joey Carbstrong revealed the disturbing abuse at Charlie Langmead's Church Farm in West Sussex.

Further footage filmed by secret cameras also shows cows also being attacked at Stockton Grange Farm, in Shropshire which supplies international dairy firm Müller.

The harrowing clips show the animals being punched, slapped, kicked and beaten with objects by cruel farmyard workers.

At one point, an employee appears to stab a cow with a sharp object and calls it "f***ing retarded"."

Others call the cows "f***ing c***s" and a "f**ing bitch" while attacking and chasing the terrified creatures around the building. "

In one part of the video a worker can be seen dragging a calf around and even through the bars of a metal gate, while kicking its anxious mother.

Vegan animal rights activist and filmmaker Mr Carbstrong said "The dairy industry views sentient animals as machines, to be exploited until exhaustion for profit and then slaughtered. "

"With this mindset, it's no wonder these sensitive, curious beings are also systematically abused when the workers think no one is watching. "

"Supermarkets like M&S that engage in humane washing this industry, should be held accountable for serious breaches of advertising standards. "

"How many more exposés do there need to be, before the public are fed up? "

"It's time we evolved past the archaic dairy industry and opt for plant-based foods instead."

"Our latest investigation once again exposes the façade behind the RSPCA's Assured label, which is not only meaningless when it comes to protecting animals but is a deliberate attempt to hoodwink the public into believing that what they are buying is somehow ethical." "

He added: "The farm in Newport we visited twice, once in 2022 and once in 2024. "

"It shows that when you have a system that exploits animals for profit, sooner or later profits ends up trumping animal welfare."

"These farms supply some of the largest supermarkets and companies."

Dragon's Den businesswoman Deborah Meaden, who is also an animal protection ambassador, shared the footage on X, formerly Twitter.

She said: "We don't deserve this planet and they don't deserve this cruelty and M&S need to be better or they don't deserve our custom."

A spokesman for M&S replied: "You are absolutely right; this footage is completely unacceptable, and the treatment of the animals is a disgrace."

"As soon as we found out about this, we immediately removed this farm from our supply chain and have launched a full investigation with the RSPCA, which independently assures our farm standards."

"We care deeply about animal welfare and are doing everything possible to ensure behaviour like this is never repeated."

Müller Milk & Ingredients also said it was conducting a full investigation.

A spokesperson said: "This upsetting and unacceptable behaviour is in no way representative of the high health and welfare standards we require from our supplying farms."

"We do not tolerate animal cruelty or poor welfare conditions on any of our supplying farms, and we work closely with suppliers to ensure our strict standards are adhered to and regular Red Tractor dairy assurance scheme checks are carried out."

"We are conducting a full investigation and have taken immediate action to identify the individuals featured in the footage, and appropriate measures will be taken."

Heaths of Stockton said it would take action against any worker not meeting its high standards.

A spokesperson for the business said: "The welfare of our herd is of the utmost importance to us and we take any claim of misconduct extremely seriously, including making sure staff conduct is of the high standard that we expect."

"Appropriate action will always be taken against anyone not meeting the standards that we set. "

"An independent Red Tractor inspection of the farm was carried out recently and found no animal welfare concerns."

An NFU spokesman said: "The footage appears to be historic, but regardless of that people can be assured that British farms adhere to some of the highest animal health and welfare standards there are."

"On our family farms animal health and welfare is based on legal and good practice standards which are upheld by regulatory bodies such as the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and assurance schemes."