Disease threat to conkers

Conkers could soon be banished to the past by a deadly disease sweeping the country, tree experts have warned.

They say chestnut trees are being ravaged by horse chestnut bleeding canker, a disease for which there is no known cure.

One tree surgeon says chestnut trees could disappear within a decade unless scores of new trees are planted now, while another compared the disease's deadly potential to that of Dutch Elm Disease. More than 25 million trees died after the disease was introduced to the country in the 1960s.

Bob Smith, managing director of Wolverhampton Tree Service in Wombourne estimates about ten per cent of chestnuts in the West Midlands have been affected this year.

And he said the problem was likely to get much worse.

He said: "It could be on the same scale as Dutch Elm Disease that took out pretty much 90 per cent of the elm trees in this country in the 70s.

"At this moment in time all we can do is leave an affected tree until it can't be left any longer and pull it down. There is no cure."

And Mark Chester, who runs Cedarwood Tree Care, Dudley, believes the disease could even spell the end of the game of conkers.

He said: "I fear the game of conkers is going to be just a fading memory for most of us before long.

"In a short time – as little as ten years – there will be no more mature horse chestnuts left as they all succumb to the inevitable."

Horse chestnut bleeding canker is caused by an aggressive fungus that enters through the root and kills the bark, leading to the death of the whole tree.

Mr Chester said it was likely global warming was causing the spread of the disease in the UK.