A Stirling dad has hit out at council chiefs after claiming his son was left with horrific burns from a giant hogweed plant at a Dunblane park.
Jeff Davidson’s young son Ben was rushed to hospital after coming into contact with the plant in a play area at the Laighhills in the town last weekend.
The incident has led to local experts to urge caution around the poisonous plant - as well as calls for greater education over the potential danger of coming into contact with giant hogweed.
In a Facebook post on Saturday afternoon, Mr Davidson said his son had been through “absolute hell” and was left “distressed” following his injuries, which he says will take six months to recover from and leave him scarred for life.
The post also turned its ire on Stirling Council and called on local teams to take action to sort the issue.
Mr Davidson added: “Stirling Council, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
“You know fine well these extremely dangerous plants are in the area and local action groups and volunteers have been fighting for years to help get them eradicated with excuses of lack of funding.
“Fencing off the areas and placing signs would be a good start.
“You will be hearing from us soon enough, we’re absolutely disgusted with you.”
The Facebook post has been shared more than 13,000 times, with locals queuing up to put their well wishes on record for Ben’s condition, as well as registering their shock about the extent of the injuries.
In response, a Stirling Council spokesman said they had inspected and found no evidence of giant hogweed within the playpark.
The spokesperson said: “We are aware of pictures on social media of a child who has suffered burns from a Giant Hogweed plant in Dunblane.
“The images of the child’s injuries highlight the extreme dangers of Giant Hogweed and our sympathies are with him and his family. We wish him well in his recovery.
“As soon as the council was alerted to this incident, a Land Services Officer inspected Laighhills Park on Sunday, July 25 and found no evidence of the plant in the play area within the park. This was confirmed by a further inspection on Monday, July 26.
“Following a separate reported sighting of giant hogweed on council-owned land along the riverbank within the Laighhills area, our Fisheries Team completed a treatment of the area on Monday, July 19.
“Due to the serious health hazards posed by Giant Hogweed, we always act quickly on any reported sighting on council land, and our land services and fisheries teams regularly assess and treat areas of concern across the local authority area.
“Landowners are responsible for the plant growing on their land.
“Forth Rivers Trust was involved in a Giant Hogweed eradication scheme in recent years on private land, but this was funded by national agencies, including Scottish National Heritage and SEPA, not the council.
“We can confirm that the family have been in touch with the council about this incident and council officers will liaise with them about this distressing matter.
“Once we obtain a specific location from the family we will re-inspect the site if it has not already been treated.”
Giant hogweed is a widely found plant in the local landscape which can rise to over three metres in height and is widely viewed as an invasive nuisance, with the sap causing the potential for severe skin burns for those unaware of its potential for harm.
Efforts to eradicate giant hogweed in the local landscape have been ongoing for a number of years, with local volunteers hard at work spraying down local areas including Dunblane and Bridge of Allan.
One of those volunteers is former Dunblane Community Council chairman Terence O’Byrne, who has been tackling the plants locally for around seven years.
Terence told the Observer: “People need to stay away from giant hogweed, even the baby plants can cause damage if the sap gets on the skin.
“Just brushing against it will not hurt you, but if you mess around with the stem, then that’s when you can release a lot of sap and you’re in trouble.
“It’s all about education and making sure that you avoid these plants and don’t go around and bash them.”
