A MAN fears he will lose £30,000 because of the presence of Japanese knotweed on Woolston Park.

Dave Pickup has had two attempts to sell his house thwarted by the Japanese knotweed, which has been spotted on Woolston Park behind houses on Brickhurst Way.

Previous sales worth £155,000 fell through because the building society refused to give mortgages to buyers, and property company has offered £128,000 for the house – a loss of nearly £30,000.

Dave said: “Japanese knotweed is a complicated thing – it takes up to three years to get rid of and it has to be done by specialists.

“I’m potentially going to lose £30,000 on the sale of my house because of it.

“I’ve had two offers that I’ve accepted but on both occasions the building society have said no because of the knotweed.

“A house-buying company is offering £30,000 less than the last offer I had.”

Building societies often refuse mortgages when Japanese knotweed is found as it is an invasive and harmful plant.

Warrington Guardian:

Warrington Borough Council has begun the treatment of land on Woolston Park, but further knotweed is present on neighbouring private land.

A spokesperson said: “We are aware of Japanese knotweed to the rear of Brickhurst Way and Woolston Park.

“In line with specialist guidance, we have begun treating this with translocated herbicide and anticipate this treatment will be ongoing for the next two or three years, or until there is no further evidence of regrowth.

“Once we were made aware of the presence of the Japanese knotweed the first application of herbicide was completed within a few days.”