CANON Frome electors are to write to Herefordshire Council, urging a county referendum on the growing of GM crops.

Under Government farm-scale trails, GM crops are likely to be harvested this summer at two locations locally - Kempley and Preston Wynne.

Organic growers in particular are concerned that pollen blowing from the sites could lead to their crops losing organic status under strict Soil Association regulations.

The decision to call for a countywide referendum was supported unanimously at Canon Frome Parish Meeting, held at Canon Frome Court on July 6.

The idea came originally from Ledbury Town Council.

But Herefordshire Council's registration services manager Steve Oram said: "There's no way we can hold a county-wide referendum. The Government could call one if it wanted to but there's no precedent.

"A parish council could ask us to hold a parish poll, but certainly there's no provision where we could be forced to hold a referendum. We could run the poll for them, but the £900 cost would fall in the parish."

He explained that a local poll, under these circumstances, could be held if at least one-third of the people at a parish meeting call for one.

A spokesperson for the Canon Frome Parish Meeting, where the demand for a referendum was unanimous said: "GM crops are poorly understood and we are concerned about the environmental consequences of GM crops for the parish; that genetic pollution will affect the safety of food that people grow for their own consumption and that GM crops may not be safe for human consumption."

George Troughton, chairman of the local group of parish councils, chaired the meeting.

The gathering was addressed by David Straker, a Canon Frome organic farmer, who said his livelihood could be threatened if GM crops are grown locally.

Jane Straker, who owns an organic food shop in Ludlow, proposed that GM crops should not be grown in the parish of Canon Frome for five years, a motion that was also adopted without objection.

At the meeting were representatives from Bodenham parish, who were also considering calling for a referendum.