CONSERVATIONISTS have called for urgent action to stop a rampant moth infestation turning the leafy streets of Redbridge a browner shade of green.

The borough's much-loved horse chestnuts were left looking distinctly autumnal last summer after being infiltrated by leaf miner moth larvae which caused their leaves to discolour prematurely.

But campaigners want more work to be done to tackle the condition - which is caused by larvae burrowing into leaves, killing their cells - to try and prevent a repeat of the outbreak this spring.

Geoff Stimpson, chairman of Woodford Green Amenity Group wants the City of London Corporation - which manages Epping Forest - to use a new cutting edge technique being pioneered by the University of Reading, which aims to strengthen the trees by injecting extra nutrients into the soil around their roots.

He said: "Horse chestnuts are the symbol of our group and of Redbridge Council, and are part of what gives this area its distinctive look.

"(The BBC) has shown footage of action being taken at Boxmoor in Herfordshire to try and combat this problem.

"This involved injecting nutrients into the soil under pressure with a vehicle specially adapted for the purpose.

"The cost of the treatment was not mentioned and as it is something new the results will obviously need monitoring to ascertain the effect on the trees.

"We did contact a spokesperson for the conservators (of Epping Forest) at The Warren to bring the news to their notice - receiving a rather perfunctory response.

"It would be a great pity if these magnificent trees were allowed to die if a cure is possible.

"We would like to see some action taken."

Jeremy Dagley, the City of London Corporation's conservation manager for Epping Forest, said: "It's an interesting new treatment, but it's at experimental stage so we'll have to wait and see what the results are in a couple of years.

"The treatment is also very expensive - thousands per tree - and as its effects are not yet proven we don't currently plan to use it on our horse chestnuts.

"At the moment we are concentrating on protecting 1,200 of our keystone trees, mainly through managing their canapes (branches).

"Our horse chestnuts did better last summer than the summer before, possibly because it was wetter but also because it looks as though these moths are gradually being contained naturally.

"We are keen to look for new techniques for tackling the problem with our horse chestnuts but we need to wait and see whether they find ways of coping by themselves.

"We had a survey carried out on our tree avenues during the summer, the results of which I am preparing to examine."