The Woodland Trust is urging ministers to strengthen the UK’s biosecurity measures after the emerald ash borer, a devastating tree pest responsible for killing millions of ash trees in the US, was detected for the first time in the EU.

The Trust has warned that the emerald ash borer is one of the world’s most destructive tree pests, and that the human movement of wood products is one of the principal ways it is spread.

The warning comes as the Government negotiates a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the European Union, designed to reduce trade barriers on plants, plant products and food. Government guidance suggests routine phytosanitary certification and border checks on many plant products moving from the EU into Great Britain will no longer be required once the agreement comes into force.