© Alamy
Ash dieback is still decimating the countryside, and threatening healthy trees like his one, almost a year after it first struck in Britain
Ash dieback is still decimating the countryside, and threatening healthy trees like his one, almost a year after it first struck in Britain
- Disease out of control in the East and South East of England
- Somerset confirmed as the 15th English county with the fungal disease
- Outbreaks in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
- Of infected sites in Britain, more than half linked to imported ash trees
The deadly fungus, which is rife across mainland Europe, is now out of control in the East and South East of England and there have been outbreaks in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Somerset was confirmed as the 15th English county with the fungal disease after staff on the National Trust's Holnicote Estate near Minehead discovered blighted leaves on a handful of ash trees this month.
The latest official figures reveal there are 571 infected sites in Britain, with 334 linked to imported ash trees, 213 in the wider environment and 24 in nurseries.
But the actual figure could be higher because as the disease has taken hold, there has been less urgency to report new cases.
Forestry Commission staff are now conducting a new survey of woodlands in the East and South East of England to gain a clearer picture of the how disease has spread in the wild.
Infected trees are no longer being felled, in the hope of finding mature trees that are resistant to the disease, which is known as Chalara fraxinea.
