NEW Brexit restrictions have led a North Yorkshire plant nursery to stop supplying plants to Northern Ireland.

Johnsons Of Whixley annually sold £500,000 worth of plants to Northern Irish customers before Brexit but says new rules stop it supplying rootball, bare root and container plants into the EU and now Northern Ireland.

Plants which originate from a bare root young plant, or that have had contact with the soil, even if container grown, are considered a risk due to the likely legacy of soil residue which has the potential to carry pathogens or nematodes.

Johnsons says soil residue removal is impractical and would defeat the object of rootballing and containerisation.

There are no restrictions on a legacy soil residue between EU members or affiliates in the guise of Northern Ireland.

Johnsons' head of production and procurement, Jonathan Whittemore said: “This legislation penalises UK growers and gives an immediate competitive advantage to EU suppliers who may go on to monopolise supply into an existing part of the UK at the expense of our business and the wider industry.

"The Brexit ‘project’ was meant to reduce red tape and bureaucracy and was surely not intended to penalise UK Suppliers and active Northern Ireland/UK customers.

"The restriction was designed to protect the wider EU Flora and Fauna, under this scenario there is ‘nil’ risk to the EU from Johnsons traditional supply into NI be it from our own production or ironically imports sourced in the EU and supplied into NI!”