Residents who are tending an oasis on their estate are urging Hackney council to stop using weedkiller after herb plants were destroyed.

Lucy Fisher said bees were attracted by the thyme she had planted in a bed on the Kingsgate estate near Tottenham Road, Dalston, but it was destroyed when blasted with weedkiller. Mint was also affected.

She said: “They just seem to have gone round the perimeter putting weedkiller on the plants and herbs there.”

Undeterred, she is planning to replace the herbs but wants to see more awareness of biodiversity to encourage wildlife which flourish on the plants.

She said in light of the climate emergency and the need to foster biodiversity, "joined-up work” is needed.

Gerry Tissier from the Daubeney Fields gardening project said there needs to be training, and that people have been lobbying Hackney Council for a biodiversity manager.

He said in areas in Hackney where the council stopped using glyphosate weedkiller, researchers found 60 species of plant in just one street.

Caroline Woodley, the cabinet member with responsibility for parks, urged residents to talk to the council about their gardening plans.

Hackney Council was approached for comment.