KILLER cannibal ‘super-slugs’ from Spain are set to invade East Lancashire gardens this spring.

Garden centres across the county have warned green-fingered residents to be on guard as the slimy pests take advantage of the mild British winter.

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Experts have warned that 2015 could be the worst year yet as the population of the molluscs – which can grow up to 15cm – explodes.

Award-winning Ribble Valley gardener John Foley said it may already be too late to protect against the invasion.

Mr Foley, who runs Holden Clough Nursery and The Garden Kitchen in Bolton-by-Bowland, was crowned BBC Young Gardener of the Year in 2012 and said repellent needed to be in place from mid-February to have the greatest impact.

He said: “Ideally you have to lay down repellent before they lay any further eggs.

“One-and-a-half kilograms per 1,5000 square metres should do the trick. If you put out the right amount it won’t have a detrimental impact on other creatures.”

The hermaphrodite Spanish slugs – known to scientists as Arion vulgaris – are immune to several common pest products and have been known to eat rival slugs.

Research by Wyevale Garden Centres, which has an outlet in Leyland, showed that gardeners removed up to 4,000 slugs per month last year and spent £11.6million on products to battle them.

John Lamb, of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, said the Spanish slug posed a particular threat to plants. He added: “They will have a destructive effect on garden plants and they will eat other slugs to become the dominant species.

“However, they don’t like aromatic plants such as lavender and oregano, or hairy plants like geraniums. Spraying plants with liquid coffee and buying slug fences can also help.”

The UK’s leading entomologist, Dr Ian Bedford, added: “They usually survive the winter in our gardens as eggs. Without a cold snap, it’s fair to say that slug numbers especially the invading Spanish slug - which can lay up to 400 eggs - will escalate this year.”

  • The Spanish word for slug is 'babosa', although they may answer to El Slugo.