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 The poisoning of thousands of rare crayfish in Cumbria five years ago has finally led to a sheep dip being permanently withdrawn from sale in the UK.
The Environment Agency has announced that cypermethrin sheep dip won’t be available any moe.
Concerns were raised in 2005 that the insecticide was damaging watercourses and affecting marine life after a number of serious incidents occurred.
In one case, more than 5,000 rare white-clawed crayfish (pictured) were killed in the River Mint in Cumbria and sales of cypermethrin dip were suspended the following year.
Commenting on the decision to prohibit the purchase of the substance, Environment Agency chief executive Dr Paul Leinster said: "This is great news for the environment. It means greater protection for kilometres of high quality rivers in the sheep farming areas of Wales and England."
Matt Shardlow, Conservation Director of Buglife the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, said: “Slopping highly toxic chemicals about the countryside is an outdated and outmoded practice. Pour-on and injectable alternatives cause much less environmental destruction. We were hoping that the ban would become permanent and our rivers and meadows are allowed to recover."
The likelihood of pollution after dipping is dependant on the behaviour of the sheep and the volume of rain over an unknown period of time after exposure.
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