A COUNCIL worker campaigning for a ban on a weedkiller he claims is putting lives at risk has won support across the world.

Gardener Stuart Graham recently called on Inverclyde Council to stop using Roundup, which is at the centre of a cancer lawsuit in the US.

Since then the shop steward has been contacted by pressure groups from far afield as Canada.

The powerful weedkiller is used by local authorities in public spaces, including schools, to save them thousands of pounds but contains a chemical with links to cancer.

Long serving council employee Stuart said: "Since the story appeared in the Tele I have been contacted by Pan UK (the Pesticide Action Network) and we are going to meet up with them.

"They are trying to ban glyphosate in all towns in the UK.

"I am also in touch with others in Canada."

Stuart previously told the Tele how he'd been raising concerns about the weedkiller for years.

As a ground maintenance worker he was in one of two teams who sprayed Roundup up to three times a year.

But he grew increasingly concerned about reports of alleged links with cancer and the chemical glyphosate.

He said: "We are sent in teams of two to spray the weed killer about three times a year in open spaces.

"It is used everywhere."

In March a jury in the United States ruled that the use of Roundup had contributed to causing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a Californian man.

The verdict follows another payout in the same state last year.

Product owners Bayer are appealing the decision.

Inverclyde Council told the Tele that they followed the Health and Safety Executive's guidance on using products which contain glyphosate.

They added that they would act if official advice changed.

Meanwhile Stuart has also started a petition calling on Environment Secretary Michael Gove to act to ban Roundup.

He said: "It saves the council thousands of pounds every year in manpower but health should be more important than anything."