Counter-terrorism sniffer dogs Mick and Mack are trained to root out destructive Japanese knotweed

A pair of labrador retrievers have been trained to sniff out one of Britain’s most invasive plants.

Sniffer dogs Mack and Mick are thought to be the first dogs in the UK trained to find Japanese knotweed in both homes and gardens.

The pair take just minutes to work through a garden and will freeze once they identify the plant.

RFA Security, which trained the dogs, also supplies dogs to counter-terrorism authorities. 

Weed removal firm Environet uses the dogs exclusively after finding them more effective than surveyors and charges £750 plus VAT for a residential scour using Mack and Mick.

Nic Seal, Environet managing director told the Times: ‘A dog detection survey is the only way to say with high certainty that a property is clear of knotweed’.  

The pair of labrador retrievers have been trained to sniff out one of Britain’s most invasive plants

What is Japanese knotweed and how much damage could it do to your garden?

By Joseph Laws for MailOnline

Japanese knotweed is one of the most invasive plant species in Britain. It grows even more when it is cut.

Entire gardens have been taken over by the plant itself, shedding thousands of pounds off of property prices. 

One couple, Marie and Chris Moore, of Yardley Wood, Birmingham, said they had endured ‘five years of hell’ with the plant in September last year.

It completely took over their back garden and the couple could no longer use their own garden to hang the washing out. 

Mr Moore said: ‘We loved this house, but now we hate it – we are just so fed up with it. We feel like prisoners.’

One couple, Marie and Chris Moore, of Yardley Wood, Birmingham, said they had endured ‘five years of hell’ with the plant in September last year. Mr Moore is pictured above

Entire gardens have been taken over by the plant itself, shedding thousands of pounds off of property prices [File photo]