YORKSHIRE Water is calling on farmers on land near River Wiske tributaries in Northallerton to take extra care using slug pesticides

The pellets can occasionally leak into watercourses in Yorkshire’s farming heartlands around Northallerton, as well as York, Pocklington and Driffield.

An active ingredient in the pellets - metaldehyde - poses no danger to health or the environment, but its levels in the River Derwent, Wiske and Ouse have occasionally breached EU drinking water standards in the last year.

In response, Yorkshire Water and partners including the National Farmers Union are encouraging farmers to adopt an Integrated Pest Management approach with less reliance on slug pellets.

Andrew Walker, catchment strategy manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “We really appreciate the efforts farmers in Yorkshire are making to reduce the amount of metaldehyde getting into our rivers.

“These measures include switching to ferric based pellets; adhering to the new 10m buffer strips and implementing the new integrated pest management plans, and other cultivation techniques which can control slug populations without the need for chemicals.”

The Integrated Pest Management approach involves sowing seeds deeper into the soil to prevent slugs reaching them, using of traps to assess slug numbers, and using a more environmentally friendly alternative to metaldehyde called ferric phosaphate.

Slug pellets are commonly used by farmers this time of the year to control slug infestations, which risk eating away at crops and damaging food production.