WIRRAL Council is using a weed killer with confirmed links to cancer, even after a huge US firm was made to pay £220m in compensation to a man who claimed it caused his illness.

Last month, chemical company Monsanto paid out £226m in damages to a grounds keeper who claimed herbicides containing glyphosate, including one called Roundup, had contributed “substantially” to his terminal cancer.

A Californian jury found that Monsanto knew Roundup and another product called RangerPro were dangerous and failed to warn consumers.

Wirral Council still uses a product containing the substance, believed to be Roundup, but there are now calls for that to stop.

Green Party Cllr Pat Cleary said news of the court case should “set alarm bells ringing” among all local authorities still using the substance.

On Thursday, he said: “There have been very long-standing concerns and the court case in America has blown it wide open. I would look to the council not to be using it.

“There’s now a legal precedent there and a strong indication of links to cancer. “If they keep using this what are they leaving themselves and their staff open to?”

Cllr Cleary added that the issue has been raised “all over the country” in recent times, adding: “Some councils have moved away and trialled much more eco-friendly methods of weed control. There are certainly alternatives.

“I think it’s good if councils get called to account to ensure the question as to how much of this is necessary and how much we are spraying, is asked.

“The impact on human health should set alarm bells ringing about the general use of this material.

“I would ask the council to enforce a moratorium on the use of these products until we have looked at all the data. There’s the whole issue as well as to what extent you need to aggressively attack weeds.”

Glyphosate herbicides have been mentioned on multiple occasions in council documents of late, most recently saying it leads to “signs of weeds dying ten to fourteen days after application” in minutes from the environment overview and scrutiny committee meeting held in July.

Cllr Cleary added that it was an issue he was going to raise at the next full council meeting.

Responding to the concerns, a council spokesman said: “We’re aware of trials of alternative methods of weed treatment being carried out in other areas and we’re aware of the mixed findings of these tests so far.

“There is clearly a debate going on regarding the safety of glyphosate and we will await further definitive guidance from the government and/or other agencies in that regard.”

The news comes after a special meeting of the committee took place in July to discuss problems with the grass cutting and weed clearance programmes, with it claimed parts of Wirral resembled an “uncared for, derelict wasteland”.

And it follows Wrexham council in February agreeing to reduce the amount of Roundup it sprays in some areas like playgrounds, after admitting to overusing it in summer 2017, but stopping short of banning it outright.

Various other councils, including Edinburgh, Brighton and Hove, and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham have already banned it.

The French government promised in May that glyphosate would be banned “for its main uses” by 2021.

The World Health Organisation has previously said that glyphosate-based weed killers are “probably carcinogenic”, but the firm now in charge of Monsanto denies the claim and intends to appeal against the American ruling, adding that “decades” of research has shown it is safe for human use.

Monsanto was taken over by Bayer, a German company, in June.

A statement from Bayer said: “Bayer is confident, based on the strength of the science, the conclusions of regulators around the world and decades of experience, that glyphosate is safe for use and does not cause cancer when used according to the label.”