IT was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, was just the ticket for keeping Count Dracula at bay, and is great for keeping you fit. And now scientists reckon they have found a new use for that most pungent of plants, garlic.

According to researchers garlic could finally win the worldwide war against slugs and snails by being pressed into service as an environmentally friendly pesticide.

Scientists at the University of Newcastle tested nine potential slug killers and discovered that refined garlic was far and away the most effective.

The research was carried out at the request of the crop growing industry and sponsored by the Horticultural Development Council. Incredibly it seems that the pesticide properties of garlic were well known by our ancestors.

Monks used to plant garlic next to their vegetable crops to keep unwanted pests at bay.

But the growth of man-made sprays saw the garlic plant cast aside in favour of easier-to-use chemicals. Now experts believe the time could be ripe for garlic to make a comeback.

Lead researcher Dr Gordon Port said: "We need to find new environmentally and cost effective ways of controlling molluscs and garlic could be the answer.

"Tests show that it is certainly a potent chemical where slugs and snails are concerned. If used appropriately we know it's mostly harmless to man because it is used as a cooking ingredient."

Slugs and snails cause millions of pounds worth of damage as they munch their way through food crops and plants, particularly in cool temperate climates like the UK.

Even more millions are spent trying to stop them - the estimated overall cost in the UK alone runs to £30m per year.

Dr Port said further research was needed to investigate the commercial potential of replacing chemicals with garlic.

"We want to find out how garlic affects other creatures living in the soil, the right concentration to use, how it affects the taste of food once it has been used on crops, and many other things," he explained.

* Fancy having a go yourself? Research suggests that a home-made recipe of crushed garlic bulbs mixed with water could work very efficiently in a small garden.