Devastating ash disease ‘will cost the UK £14billion’

A DEADLY tree disease is set to cost Britain billions of pounds over the next decade.

Ash dieback, the fungus some experts fear could wipe out the UK’s 125 million ash trees, will cost the nation almost £15billion, according to scientists.

Almost half of this cost will come in the next decade, as dangerous roadside trees are felled and huge wooded areas are replanted.

The fungus came to the UK seven years ago from Europe, has no cure, leaves diamondshaped scars on bark, causes loss of leaves and kills up to 99 per cent of infected trees.

Researchers led by Oxford University say the £14.8billion bill includes lost benefits provided by trees, such as absorbing harmful air pollution.

Dr Louise Hill, who led a study on the disease from the department of plant sciences at the university, said colleagues were ‘shocked at the magnitude of the cost to society’.

While the total bill is for the next century, researchers say ash dieback will cost £7billion in the next ten years alone.

The study was published in the journal Current Biology.