BRITAIN exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides in 2023, an investigation revealed today.

Greenpeace’s investigative unit, Unearthed, and the NGO Public Eye discovered that the volume of neonicotinoid thiamethoxam, a toxic insecticide that destroys bees’ nervous systems, was so large that it could cover the whole of England.

The weedkiller diquat accounted for 60 per cent of the total exports.