WAR on ragwort was declared by lifelong New Forest Commoner Col Peter Sweet, who brought a bunch of the toxic weed to a meeting to galvanise Forest experts into action.

The veteran Commoner - a leading light of the Commoners Defence Association - addressed members of the New Forest Committee (NFC) while brandishing a newly-pulled sheaf of ragwort. He warned: "This needs dealing with now."

The annual yellow-flowered weed is a regular headache for all Commoners whose ponies and cattle run on the open Forest. Animals find ragwort a tasty alternative to grass, but its leaves contain a poison which builds up in the animals' bodies causing eventual liver failure.

Each year, county highways officers and the Forestry Commission team up to tackle the yellow peril, hiring "pulling gangs" to clear huge areas of the Forest. They fill more than 50 bin-liners a day, pulling the tough weed by gloved hand.

FC ranger Caroline Guraudy said: "We'll have a ten-strong team working flat out for four weeks from July."

A spokesman for Hampshire County Council said they would have up to six members of the roads maintenance team on ragwort duty from the end of June until September.

But Col Sweet, from Brockenhurst, says they are acting too late to protect stock from eating the weed. He has campaigned tirelessly on the ragwort issue at almost every parish council, Verderers Court and public meeting in the Forest this spring.

He told the New Forest Committee: "This year the problem must be attacked properly.

"The county council ragwort-pulling season has been extended to September, but it needs to start earlier, not be extended later. Ragwort needs dealing with now, before it flowers. This is what it looks like," said Col Sweet, waving his bunch of wilted greenery.

NFC chairman Ted Johnson said: "Where would we be without Col Sweet? When you get stuck into a problem you never let up. We agree the pressure should be kept up."

Sally Cardwell, spokesman for the New Forest Verderers who are in charge of commoning matters, said: "There is no doubt ragwort has caused deaths.

"Agisters can usually tell if a pony has died of poisoning, but it is often difficult to pin it on ragwort without an autopsy. Acorns are another culprit.

"A lot depends on the condition of the animals. A healthy pony can survive eating a small amount of ragwort, where a poor pony will be badly affected.

"But if people pull ragwort around their homes it is vital they dispose of it properly. Wilted ragwort is even more toxic and tasty to ponies than the growing plant."