Japanese knotweed specialists in Newcastle upon Tyne

Guidance from Newcastle City Council

• The council sprays knotweed on land it owns as part of an annual programme, treating regrowth until the roots die, which can take several years.
• It does not treat knotweed on private, domestic or other organisations' land, and asks that such cases are not reported to it.
• Knotweed on council land can be reported by telephone. The council also gives disposal advice, including keeping knotweed out of garden waste bins and household recycling sites.

Further information is available on the council's website: Weeds and Japanese knotweed.

Local background

• Tyne Rivers Trust names knotweed as one of the three main invasive plants affecting the Tyne and controls it by spraying or stem injection, with trained volunteers helping with herbicide treatment. (source)

The law in England

It isn't an offence to have Japanese knotweed on your land, but under section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence to plant it or otherwise cause it to grow in the wild. Government guidance says you must stop it spreading off your property. Soil or plant material containing it is likely to be controlled waste, which must only go to an authorised site, and councils can use community protection notices where someone's failure to deal with it unreasonably affects people nearby.

See our guidance on Japanese knotweed and the law.