ENVIRONMENTAL campaigner Julie Yardley says Petersfield Town Council has been supportive of her campaign to make the town pesticide free.

Last year the council voted not to use weedkillers containing a cocktail of chemicals that included glyphosate, a chemical thought to be harmful to humans and pets.

Julie said: “Mayor Phil Shaw and town clerk Neil Hitch have been hugely supportive of my pesticide-free campaign.”

And Julie wants no chemical pesticides, especially ones with glyphosate, to be used in the town.

She believes they are harmful to humans and animals, with one knock-on effect being a fall in bee numbers.

And she says the pressure needs to be kept on, as other councils, companies and individuals still use weedkiller containing the noxious chemical.

She added: “I am asking people to email their councillors at all levels, with ‘Stop Pesticides In Petersfield’ as the subject title, and their name and address as the message.

“It’s a quick and easy way to get the message across!”

And her petition and campaign is being backed through actions as well as signatures.

Petersfield Society member and town resident Beth Svarovska said “I’m clearing weeds from the border of our property and the pavement.

“During the second week of August, when the county council is due to weed kill pavements, I will put up signs saying ‘Do Not Spray,’ in the hope the operatives see no need to spray here.

“We want our garden to be a wildlife haven, and have lots of moths and pollinators I don’t want to see killed off.

“We all have to take responsibility for supporting the broad ecosystem on which we ultimately depend for our food supply.

“Many young families walk past our house on their way to the pond, so in my opinion using natural ways of keeping the weeds down, not indiscriminate spraying of potentially dangerous pesticides, is imperative.”