A CHARITY which owns a 17-acre woodland in Keighley is urging gardeners across the district not to plant rhododendron.

The Woodland Trust says rhododendron ponticum can carry disease and "crowd out" swathes of native plants.

"It may look nice but it spreads fast and crowds out other plants," says Rebecca Gosling, for the trust.

"We have spent £360,000 over the past year on invasive plant control, which includes removing rhododendron.

"Imported rhododendron plants carry a strong risk of arriving with the deadly disease Phytophthora Ramorum, which can be fatal to more than 150 plant species. In the UK, the control programme for this disease has resulted in large-scale felling of larch plantations – which harms our timber industry."

The Woodland Trust has owned Holme House Wood, in Keighley, since 1991.

Three years ago the charity announced the site was being renamed in honour of Keighley-born fundraising hero the late Captain Sir Tom Moore.

As part its rhododendron awareness campaign, the trust is also calling for more action to tackle the threat posed by the plant, including an increase in the Government's invasive species biosecurity budget to £3 million and additional border inspections to prevent new invasive species entering the UK.