ENVIRONMENTAL activists today claimed to have completely destroyed a genetically-modified crop trial in North Yorkshire.
The raid was just the latest in a series of attacks targeting GM oil seed rape at Hedley Hall, near Tadcaster, owned by Leeds University.
An anonymous spokesman for the activists said: "This crop of GM oil seed rape is now 100 per cent destroyed - completely destroyed. Probably every single plant has been either uprooted or broken."
In a phone call to the Evening Press, he said the test site was now "invalid" and would be yielding no data.
The activist claimed GM crops offered no real benefits to farmers or consumers and caused serious damage to the environment. He said the foods produced could be harmful to human health.
He claimed the vast majority of people were opposed to this "malignant technology" and appealed to Leeds University to cease its work on genetically engineered crops.
The site at Hedley Hall is involved in a Government trial to test the performance of GM crops, not to ascertain whether GM crops are safe - as was suggested in an article last week.
Updated: 11:15 Monday, April 07, 2003
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