05/11/2012

Nursery Considers Suing Govt Over Ash Dieback

A nursery is considering taking legal action against the government after it was forced to destroy 50,000 ash trees.

The trees were destroyed following the discovery of the ash dieback fungal disease currently threatening ash trees across the UK and Europe.

Simon Ellis of Crowders in Lincolnshire said the disease had been found in 15 trees in June, but claims an order was issued preventing the firm from taking action.

Ash dieback has now been confirmed at 52 locations in England and Scotland.

Ministers are arguing the import ban was implemented as soon as possible.

100,000 ash trees have been destroyed in the past six weeks and now some experts are saying it may be too late to stop the spread of the fungus.

Mr Ellis says the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) informed ministers in 2009 of the new strain of ash dieback disease and recommended closing UK borders.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "They should have taken it seriously at the time. They chose not to and now we have this really dramatic situation.

"Effectively our income stream starts now, this is the season, this is our harvest time so to cut off our income stream - what other course of action can we take?"

The HTA says the government misdiagnosed the disease, as it was thought to be the same as one already widespread in the UK.

The HTA's Tim Briercliffe told Today: "We saw the disease, we saw what it was doing in Denmark. It wasn't doing that in the UK. Whatever the details of the science were saying, that surely was going to speak far louder."

(IT)

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