GM wheat trial at Rothamsted vandalised

A man has been charged with criminal damage following a break-in at the Rothamsted Research centre where a trial of GM wheat is being held.

Rothamsted said that crops had been vandalised, causing "significant" damage.

The incident took place on Sunday morning at the centre's test site in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

The project aims to see whether the modified crops can deter aphids - a major wheat pest.

Rothamsted has previously pleaded with anti-GM campaigners not to destroy their experimental plots, which they say could help reduce pesticide use.

But opponents of GM technology claim that planting the crops in the open air would allow modified pollen to get out into the surrounding environment.

The lab's director Prof Maurice Moloney said the act was an attempt to "deny us all the opportunity to gather knowledge and evidence" on a possible new approach for reducing the use of pesticides.