Turning the tide on knotweed in Fort William

KNOTWEED along the Fort William Loch shore is finally being brought under control after three years.

Lochaber Fisheries Trust says visitors to the town will no longer be greeted by the sight of knotweed running rampant as areas that were once dense blocks of this aggressive, alien plant are now being reclaimed by native species.

A partnership between the trust and the Criminal Justice Service saw offenders who were carrying out community payback orders and were trained in the safe use of pesticides inject every stem of knotweed with concentrated weedkiller. Now three years on the knotweed is finally succumbing to this sustained attack.

Lucy Ballantyne from Lochaber Fisheries Trust said: ‘ We’ve received extremely positive feedback from local residents who are glad to have their view of the loch back. There are still significant areas of knotweed around Lochaber, but this shows that with a co- ordinated effort it can be controlled.’

Dean Kennedy from the Criminal Justice Service commented: ‘It was a great project for criminal justice services to be involved in and it is an excellent example of people who are on community payback orders issued by the courts putting their time to good use on such a worthwhile cause.’