PETERSFGIELD Climate Action Network (PeCAN) is urging residents to make their views known as Hampshire County Council contractors prepare to begin spraying chemical weed killer in and around the town on August 22 and 23.

They will be targeting weeds growing on hard or surfaced areas of the public highway such as footways, kerbs and channels. A PeCAN spokesman said: “The product they will be using is called ‘Trustee Amenity’ which is a glyphosate based herbicide.

“Despite the instructions for use stating that the product shouldn’t be used on weeds suffering from drought stress as reduced control may occur, and that it is ‘particularly important that the weeds have sufficient leaf growth and are actively growing’, the council is pressing ahead with the spraying.” PeCAN also warns that pesticides and herbicides have been linked to declines in bees and pollinators, birds, mammals, earthworms and soil fertility.

The biggest-selling weedkiller, Roundup, contains glyphosate, which the World Health Organisation has assessed as "probably carcinogenic to humans”.

There is pressure to ban it in Europe by the end of 2022 and somecountries already have.

The UK still allows it, and herbicides are still widely used by councils, but a natural alternative is to pull the weeds up by hand, or spray hot water foam.

This requires some capital investment in equipment, but some enterprising councils are making their money back by hiring out their hot water foam spraying equipment to other councils (it also removes graffiti).

PeCAN has put together some tips aimed at stopping council commissioned weedkilling in your road:

Clear weeds from around the kerb, pavement and road edges, and the front of your property.

Tell your neighbours about the spraying so they can clear their weeds too.

The contractors should only be spraying visible weeds so if there aren’t any on your street, they won’t need to spray.

Leave a sign up/chalk on the pavement saying ’HCC do not spray here’. Bees and flowers make a nice addition.

Keep a lookout for people spraying and avoid going near them.

Avoid brushing weeds or walking on them as they may have been recently sprayed.

Write to your County Councillor and Highways Dept asking them to stop spraying herbicides in public places.

And please take photos of your cleared roads and email them to [email protected], and [email protected]