Save the British Conker!

11.33.52am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 15th Sep 2006

Sharon inspects an infected horse chestnut tree

South East England's Horse Chestnut trees, which have provided conkers for generations of schoolchildren, are currently dying in their thousands in the worst case of tree blight since Dutch Elm Disease 30 years ago.

The South East's Liberal Democrat MEP, Sharon Bowles, is calling on the EU to provide funding for research and development into the 'bleeding cankers' disease that is causing trees from across the South East to die.

The Forestry Commission states that approximately 40,000 to 50,000 trees across the country are currently affected by the plague, which causes a dark liquid to ooze from areas of the trunk of a tree. If left to spread, this causes a branch or trunk to fall off, or the tree itself to fall over. The tree is also then vulnerable to attack from other diseases.

Sharon Bowles says:

"Many experts warn that this outbreak could be as serious as the outbreak of Dutch elm disease, and the last thing we want is another epidemic that wipes out a common British tree species."

"Leaves on Horse Chestnuts across the South East have already withered and shrunk, and conkers are not being produced at all!"

"When such outbreaks of disease have occurred before, the EU has been able to provide financial assistance for research, so that a swift and effective eradication measure can be found. That's why I have asked the European Commission to help fight the current blight threatening our English Horse Chestnut trees."

Ends

Note for Editors

The disease attacking the trees is thought to be from the Phytophthora family. The symptoms of the disease are such that the tree produces wound-like marks that ooze a reddish-brown liquid - hence the name "bleeding cankers".