WARNING: Toxic plant giant hogweed delaying floods clean-up and could have spread to homes

The Mersey Basin Rivers Trust has been forced to cancel its recovery efforts at Close Park in Radcliffe because of an infestation of giant hogweed, which has made it too dangerous for volunteers to enter the area.

The plant, which doesn't usually appear until late February, but has germinated early this year, leaves long-lasting scars on humans and can cause blindness if it comes into contact with the eyes.

Parts of Bolton, especially the Prestolee area, were severely flooded following severe storms at the end of last year.

Experts have now warned that the flood waters could have spread the plant's seeds to gardens and public spaces across the town and have pleaded for urgent action to be taken.

Last year, four pupils from Harper Green School in Farnworth suffered horrific injuries after touching the plant in Moses Gate Country Park.

Reid Daley, aged 13, was told he would have to be protected from sunlight for at least two years because the damage would make his skin vulnerable to burning.

Mike Duddy, of the Mersey Basin Rivers Trust, said: "It's just too dangerous to go into the bit of the park nearest the river now. The hogweed is already six inches high and it would be unfair to ask community volunteers to go litter picking amongst it.

"We can't do anything more in the park until next winter. We have done three-quarters of it in the areas which are most used by the public.
"But the back of the park is infested with hogweed, so it's just impossible to go in there and clean it up. It's like a jungle.

"People whose houses have been flooded need to be warned that their gardens could now be contaminated with giant hogweed, as could any area that has been flooded.

"It's a huge problem and it's only going to get worse until real action is taken."

He also warned that a large amount Japanese knotweed was uprooted and spread because of the floods, a plant which can damage buildings and render a property unmortgageable if it germinates in a garden.

Mr Duddy added: "The easiest way of getting rid of them is to spray the plants with a weedkiller, which can be bought from any hardware store.

"If there are pensioners who are physically or financially unable to remove it, then we will come in and do it free of charge."

Bury Council confirmed that teams would be tackling the issue in Close Park in the coming weeks, but advised that they could only remove the plants from council-owned land.

A spokesman said: “We take action each year to tackle giant hogweed, which involves spraying the affected site before the plant flowers in spring. We have programmed the work to take place in both Close Park and Springwater Park in the weeks to come.

"It is important to realise that we can only carry out such work on council land. To deal with the problem across a wider area would require all landowners to carry out the work on their land too.

"We do have signs up in our parks that shows people what giant hogweed looks like and that it may be present along the river banks."

Colette Jones, chair of the Friends of Close Park group and resident of Parkside Close, said: "The river is in a right state and something has to be done about it.
"Residents are now going to be very worried as well about how they are going to stop hogweed getting in their gardens.

"Radcliffe looks a real mess in some places. When you drive down Dumers Lane and see all of the rubbish in the river it is really awful."

Eric Owen, chair of the Little Britain Anglers group and a long-term campaigner against hogweed, added: "It's going to get worse and worse because it isn't being dealt with.

"It has been popping up in a lot of places around the river for years and now it is going to go a lot further because of the floods. It's a massive problem and something has to be done to stop it."