Alert on toxic moth plague

A PLAGUE of toxic caterpillars which can cause severe rashes and asthma has struck the UK.

Large numbers of oak processionary moth larvae have been found in London and the South East.

The Forestry Commission is urging people not to touch them and to report their round white nests which can be 3ft wide.

The caterpillars, which first arrived here in 2005 on imported Dutch trees, destroy oaks as they swarm from tree to tree.