A family-run egg farm has installed a vending machine because so many people were abusing its honesty box system.Cavick House Farm in Wymondham, Norfolk, had been relying on the good will of customers to pay the correct amount for their eggs.David and Julie Barber keep 16,000 hens and decided to sell eggs direct to the public to boost the income they get from supplying supermarkets.But they were losing about £150 a week in stolen eggs.Mrs Barber said it was “a shame” so many people were choosing not to pay.She said: “We ran the honesty box for about seven years in our little egg shed but in the last couple of years the figures haven’t been adding up.”We were seriously thinking about stopping the sales altogether but we decided to keep selling to our loyal customers.”Previously, customers were invited to help themselves to eggs and leave the appropriate amount of money in the box, but an estimated 40% of the produce was not being paid for.Packs of eggs are now kept in individual vending machine boxes which are only unlocked after payment.
Source: BBC News