Archived press release

Protest welcomes Levingtons MD

1 December 1998

**Photo opportunity** 8.30-9.00am outside Scotts at Salisbury House, Weyside Park, Cattershall Lane, Godalming. Campaigners will be dressed as Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men

The new managing director of Surrey-based Scotts (the company that owns the Levingtons brand of garden products) was welcomed to his first day at his new job today [Tuesday 1 December 1998] by a protest from campaigners calling for his company to stop damaging designated wildlife areas.

Scotts is involved in taking peat from some of the UK's most important peatland areas,Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) such as Thorne Moor, Hatfield Moor and Wedholme Flow all in the North of England. The sites are home to thousands of species of invertebrates as well as breeding birds such as the Nightjar. The peat is used in bags of growing media.

The new Managing Director of the Company, Nick Kirkbride, is understood to be starting work on 1 December. He joins the company from Virgin Cola.

Matt Phillips Senior Wildlife Campaigner of Friends of the Earth said: “Levingtons is stripping peat from some of the most important peatlands in the country. Despite the fact that local authorities, local people in the North and conservationists are against the company taking peat from Thorne Moor, Levingtons continues to plunder our wildlife for profit. Mr Kirkbride has a chance to take a fresh look at his new company's destructive practices. We urge him to do so.”

Jill Leslie of Guildford and Godalming Friends of the Earth said: “It is appalling that a company in our back yard is involved in so much environmental damage. Yet there is no need to take peat from our best peatland habitats. There are many alternatives to using peat - best of all composting waste at home. By ending the use of peat local people can take action themselves to save Thorne and Hatfield Moors.”

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust