Slugs of gigantium proportions are taking over Britain’s green spaces eating prize plants, small rodents and even excrement.
The slimy gastropods – called ‘Arion vulgaris’ – can reach a huge six-inches and are believed to have been carried over in Spanish salad leaves.
Worse, is that gardeners battling against this slippery armada are finding them resident to slug pellets leaving them powerless to protect their homegrown vegetables.
Sightings have been reported in East Anglia, the West Midlands, the New Forest, the south coast and even inner city areas like London have been unable to escape.
One woe-some gardener reported dozens of the cannibals feasting on his garden in Lode, Cambridgeshire yesterday.
He said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like them. They’re huge and they leave a trail behind them half an inch wide.
‘They don’t seem to be affected by pellets – the only way to stop them is to spear them. Luckily, I’ve finished growing many of the things in my garden so they haven’t done as much damage as they might have done.’
While this isn’t the first time the slugs have been seen in England (they were first spotted in 2010), the cold weather was thought to have killed them off.
But as their numbers grow, there are fears the giant slugs could interbreed with native ones creating a fearsome superslug that may resist the cold.
Watch out. You have been warned.