TV star Dominic West is backing campaigners opposed to what he says are "barbaric" plans for a massive pig farm in Derbyshire.

Mr West, who played Detective Jimmy McNulty in the hit police drama The Wire, hit out at the plans for the 28-hectare site, west of Woodland Drive, Foston.

Midland Pig Producers has applied to Derbyshire County Council for permission to build the farm which could house up to 25,000 animals.

It would use slurry from the site to generate electricity for the National Grid.

Mr West joined the protest against the farm through his friendship with actress-turned environmental campaigner Marchioness Tracy Worcester.

His uncle also owned a pig farm which he visited as a child. He said: "I get very concerned about our attitude to food, particularly meat.

"People think they can eat cheap meat without the cost being felt environmentally elsewhere.

"I love meat, particularly pork, but I don't want to see it brought to our plates like this."

Midland Pig Producers bosses say the farm would be on a scale that would allow the firm to compete with prices of meat from continental Europe. But Mr West, originally from Grindleford in north Derbyshire, said this issue should be dealt with by the European Union.

He said: "I think that this Government should work to ensure that the EU maintains the same animal rights standards across all its members."

Yesterday, Mr West travelled with the Marchioness to the farm of protester Sue Weston and her family, which is next to the proposed site.

The Marchioness said: "People want farms where the money stays in the rural economy instead of going to a big firm, and where the methods used are sustainable – keeping the water and air clean."

She said similar farms in Eastern Europe had contributed to the spread of disease.

Mr West also met local people who have objected to the plans, including Jane Latham, 65, who runs a nearby beef farm. She said: "We are concerned about the animals welfare and the affect the farm could have on local flooding."

A spokeswoman for Midland Pig Producers said everyone had "the right to their own opinion". She said the Foston proposals were not of a comparable size to some giant sites in other European countries and the US.

She added: "Allegations linking size to disease have also been made. Size has no impact on disease, which is controlled by good standards of hygiene, welfare and management systems, not the number of animals on a site.

"Midland Pig Producers uses best practice at all times."

A short film, The Dark Side Of Farming, will be screened at Burton Town Hall on Thursday, June 23, from 7pm, followed by a debate on "mega farms".