THE Forestry Commission say they are 'on guard' for any reports of Ash dieback in the Dean.

The disease is spreading through UK woods and a whole generation of ash trees could be lost. Now the trees are in leaf, the impact of the disease is starting to become more evident.

Ash dieback was first discovered in the UK in February 2012 at a nursery in Buckinghamshire, before being found to have spread to woodland in Norfolk the following October.

Forester James Williams says there is no evidence of Ash dieback in the Dean. He said: "It's on the doorstep and we are monitoring it closely.

"It's something that we have got to keep an eye on but we are not taking urgent action on it.

"A knee-jerk reaction could cause us to take out a species of tree and we don't want to do the disease's job for it."

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