A small town surrounded by farms has become the first in France to ban the use of pesticides within 50 metres of homes as fears grow that they may be to blame for a rise in cancers and other illnesses.

The ban was introduced in Saint-Jean, near the southern city of Toulouse, after a long campaign by a doctor and deputy mayor, Gérard Bapt.

He argues that the health risk posed by pesticides is clear from the higher incidence of cancers in some agricultural areas, including Bordeaux, where winegrowers routinely spray their vines with the powerful chemicals.