MP JAMES Gray has thrown his weight behind a Westminster campaign to stamp out the danger to horses posed by the menace of ragwort.
The Tory MP for North Wiltshire warned that many landowners fail to take action to clear the deadly weed, which causes incurable liver damage in horses.
Now he has urged fellow MPs to help a backbench Bill which would force local authorities and other public bodies to eradicate the bright yellow flowers.
Ragwort, which is capable of killing horses, sheep and cattle which eat it, has grown out of control in many areas in recent years.
Anyone who finds it growing on their land to legally obliged to cut it down, but many local authorities have cut back eradication programmes.
The Bill, which was debated in Parliament last Friday, would toughen up the 1959 Weeds Act, which is widely believed to lack teeth.
Forwarded by Conservative backbencher John Greenway, the Bill will now be discussed in detail in committee.
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