Fears European bug could wipe out Britain’s palm trees

BRITAIN’S palm trees are under threat from a parasite that has destroyed trees across the Mediterranean.

A beetle that wipes out palm trees has been discovered in the UK for the first time.

The red palm weevil has been found infesting an imported European fan palm bought from an Essex garden centre.

There are now fears that the pest could become established in places such as Torquay, Devon, and central London, where the climate is mild.

The weevil has already wiped out French Riviera palm trees long synonymous with the glamour of Nice’s Promenade des Anglais.

An adult female weevil will lay up to 300 eggs in holes in a tree, and the larvae munch their way from top to bottom. When they damage the crown, the tree is unable to produce new fronds and dies within months.

They can even be heard by placing an ear against the palm’s trunk.

The beetle, native to Asia, spread to the Middle East in the Eighties, and from there, into northern Africa, devastating date plantations before reaching Spain in 1994. In Italy since 2004, it ate its way through tens of thousands of palms in the beach resorts of Sicily, Sardinia and the Adriatic, and decimated some of Rome’s historic parks.

It has since spread to Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and France.

Max Barclay, of London’s Natural History Museum, said the pest could now gradually become established in Britain. “It would not surprise me if there was the odd breeding population here,” he said.

“The red palm weevil is a very good flyer that can cover great distances, and insects can improve their tolerance to cooler climates over generations.

“It could gradually move up the French coast, getting a few degrees further north each year.

“It is systematically killing trees over the Costa del Sol.”

Matt Shardlow, of conservation charity Buglife, blamed Britain’s lax border controls. “We are seeing an avalanche of invasive species coming into this country from Europe in the soil of pot plants because there are no real checks. It is completely irresponsible to allow this trade to continue,” he said. all IT IS believed to be where Robert the Bruce rested during his bloody campaign against the English, and from where early settlers departed for the New World. But despite its unique history, one of Scotland’s oldest churches will hold its last service today.

After more than 800 years of public worship on the site, the Church of Scotland is to close Lochbroom Parish Church, at Clachan in Wester Ross. The building is expected to be put up for sale in the new year.

With the congregation down to little more than a dozen the Church believes its future as a place of worship is no longer viable, to the dismay of many.

Now a community group, Friends of Clachan Lochbroom, is hoping to take over the church and run it as a community facility. The church is the only historic public building at the head of Loch Broom, and is the largest for several miles.

It was built in 1817 on a site of religious importance since the 13th century. Locals believe the site’s religious connections may date back even further, to early Christian worship.