An epidemic spreading across Europe affecting some of Britain’s most ecologically-important trees may be over as scientists have developed a fast-track method of breeding disease-resistant ash.
Ash dieback, a fungus which blocks water transport within ash trees, was first confirmed in Britain in 2012. The Woodland Trust estimates that the UK could lose up to 80 per cent of its ash population as a result - making the outbreak one of the most severe in modern times.
