Action is being taken to identify and control the disease in line with the government’s plant disease contingency plans. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Forestry Commission are carrying out extensive surveillance of sweet chestnut trees in the areas, working closely with local stakeholders.

Anyone who has sweet chestnut trees in their garden or on their land, or who works with the trees, is being asked to check them for signs of the disease. The fungus can spread so rapidly in infected bark that stems or branches are soon girdled and the dead bark becomes visible as a sunken canker. Masses of yellow-orange to reddish-brown pustules, the size of a pin-head, develop on infected bark. Any suspected symptoms must be reported to the Forestry Commission.

Chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) does not pose any risk to people, pets or livestock, and is only known to seriously affect sweet chestnut (Castanea) species. It does not affect horse chestnut (Aesculus) species.

Good biosecurity is vital to reducing disease spread. Anyone visiting or working in woodland should take care not to remove twigs, leaves and branches to avoid spreading the pest further. They should also clean their footwear, tools and machinery before moving locations.

In Devon the UK plant health authorities, the Forestry Commission and APHA have imposed a prohibition on the movement of sweet chestnut material including plants, logs, branches, foliage and firewood out of, or within six zones. The prohibitions on movement make it illegal to move sweet chestnut material including plants, logs, branches, foliage and firewood out of, or inside, zones within a 2 kilometre (1.24 mile) radius of sites in Devon and Dorset, where sweet chestnut blight has been found. These restrictions also apply to oak within 1 kilometre (0.62 mile) of the same sites.