A CODE of practice which can support legal action against landowners will coincide with this year's Ragwort Action Week.

The British Horse Society campaign will take place from Monday to Sunday, July 25 and the code of practice, instigated by the BHS, is due to be published by Defra to coincide with the initiative.

The BHS approached John Greenway MP in 2002 to introduce a bill on ragwort control. The bill, which received royal assent in November last year, made provision for a code of practice which could be used to support legal action against landowners who did not deal effectively with ragwort.

The code is the first of its kind and has been subject to extensive consultation involving the horse world, local authorities, conservationists, landowners and other relevant interest groups.

During Ragwort Action Week, the society and its strong volunteer force will be actively involved in highlighting the dangers to horses and other grazing livestock of ingesting ragwort.

Leaflets and posters will be available from the BHS and on its web site, www.bhs.org.uk, which will also provide a link to the code on the Defra web site.