LOCAL people concerned about Government proposals to control the sale of herbal remedies have rallied together to fight the plans.

In just three weeks, a petition with more than 900 signatures was collected in local health food shops, and dozens of letters objecting to the proposals have been sent to MP Hilton Dawson.

But Lancaster-based president of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, Margaret Whitelegg, has sounded a note of caution claiming the new legislation could actually benefit public safety.

The row centres on plans to strengthen the hand of the Medicines Control Agency to classify certain herbal products as medicines.

Critics claim the move is a draconian measure to restrict the ability of individuals to look after their own health but professional herbalist Mrs Whitelegg says some herbal products are potentially dangerous and new procedures are needed.

Commenting on the legislation, Mrs Whitelegg said: "There will not be any new powers to take products off the shelves, the MCA has those powers already. What the legislation is doing is laying down a transparent classification procedure. As a herbalist I'm not happy about vitamins and herbs being mixed together. For example, there are vitamin products with added ginseng but ginseng should not taken over a long period of time. I don't think people need be alarmed by this. The products they use safely will not be taken off the shelves."

Campaigners opposed to the plans say the new measures are the thin end of the wedge towards Government control over the health food industry. They say they fear not being able to buy the products they currently use over the counter.

Lancaster MP, Hilton Dawson, who received the petition, said he had received many well-informed letters from "a number of thoroughly sane and rational people who are concerned to take reasonable steps to safeguard their own health."

He added: "Frankly, in the hundreds of words I have read from officials on this subject, I have not yet discerned a sensible reason for proceeding with this legislation. I take the sceptical line that there are much more important issues that deserve the Government's attention."

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