VIDEO: Invasive plant may scupper planning permissions

Planning permission could soon be refused for houses and other buildings in areas infested by Japanese knotweed, it has been warned.

Planning is already being turned down in parts of the UK where knotweed is found, while the presence of the plant lowers the value of property, or makes it virtually unsaleable.

More than 200,000 homes in the UK have the invasive plant, which can grow through all kinds of hard surfaces, including ashphalt and concrete, undermining foundations in many cases.