With a natural decline in the number of Blight Scouts signed up each year, Potato Council blight specialist Gary Collins says there is now a need to recruit new scouts to the monitoring programme.

He said: "We particularly need more Scouts in the East Midlands, East of England, Yorkshire and southern regions."

"Farm fieldsmen, agronomists, advisers, or anyone that crop walks could be suitable to become a Blight Scout and help us monitor the incidences of blight during the course of the season.

"It's important to have the critical numbers of Scouts in the right parts of the country otherwise it could result in an imbalance in the reporting of blight outbreaks," he says.

Anyone interested in becoming a Blight Scout this season should contact Gary Collins on 07879 676 932, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it