A pitched battle against the invasive plant knotweed is being waged by Arbory Parish Commissioners.

The plant - introduced to Britain from the Far East in 1825 - spreads rapidly shading out native plants and damaging wildlife habitats. It can even damage buildings.

’Colby river is increasingly becoming choked up with this particularly invasive species and in the absence of action from central government the commissioners have decided to tackle the problem,’ said commissioners’ clerk Phil Gawne.

The commissioners have asked the departments of Environment, Food and Agriculture, of Infrastructure and the Manx Utilities Authority rivers section to see whether they would be willing to assist ’but requests for assistance were met with stony silence,’ said Mr Gawne.

’DEFA has responsibility for controlling invasive species, many DoI structures surround the river and the MUA has a responsibility for maintaining certain rivers.’

He added: ’Commissioners are aware that significant financial restraint in central government means that money is not as available to tackle such problems as it once was, so rather than wait to see the whole river choked with knotweed the commissioners chose to intervene.’

The authority hired a contractor to carry out the specialist job in a five-year programme.

Commissioners’ chairman Jane Glover explained: ’The commissioners recognise that central government has decreased its support for infrastructure and rivers maintenance.

’And it became clear to us that if this Japanese Knotweed menace was to be controlled we would have to do something about it.’

She added: ’This will mean adding a few pence to the parish rate for the duration of the five-year programme but we feel this is a price worth paying to protect the heart of Colby from this particularly unpleasant invasive species.’