ALL weeds in St Helier’s parks, gardens and playgrounds are now efficiently killed without pesticide.

The new environmentally friendly system has so impressed the parish that they have been asked by the Environment Department to test it in the highly sensitive area in Ouaisné which is the habitat of the endangered agile frog.

For a year now, the team at the parish’s Parks and Gardens Department have been using a non-toxic system designed in New Zealand which kills weeds efficiently with the use of an organic hot foam method.

The biodegradable solution is made from natural plant sugar extract from corn and coconut.

It creates a cover which holds in the heat and breaks down the weed’s cell structure.

Parish municipal services director Tony Andrews said it could be safely in all weathers and close to children, animals and water supplies.

He said the system was adopted by the parish after concern was expressed by some parishioners about use of weedkillers in parks and open spaces.

Parents of young children who played in treated areas, as well as dog owners whose pets were walked there, were worried about any potential harm from the use of chemicals.

Mr Andrews said there were also several catchment areas in St Helier where use of weedkillers is prohibited to prevent contamination of the Island’s water supply.

Research on the internet about non-toxic systems led him to the company Waipuna (named after the Maori word for pure water) and he arranged for his staff to have a demonstration.

Since then, the team has used the hot foam method to kill weeds in all parish parks, playgrounds, cemeteries, pavements and by-roads, as well as to remove graffiti and chewing gum.

Mr Andrews said: ‘We have been using the foam two or three times in the parks and gardens in the last year and, as persistent weeds are broken down the job will get easier and quicker,’ he said.

Because of restrictions on using chemicals they had never been able to achieve a full programme of weedkilling in the past, and putting out warning signs before spraying was time-consuming.

Mr Andrews said he would be happy to talk to other parishes and farmers about the system.

News of the parish’s green weed policy has reached the Transport and Technical Services Department who have purchased a similar machine and this week Richard Pearson from Waipuna is training staff in its use.

Mr Pearson said St Helier was following in the footsteps of more and more European countries which had banned the use of chemicals to kill weeds in urban areas.

The cost of running the machine is several thousand pounds a year.