Croydon Council could reconsider their use of a weed killer which could increase the risk of causing cancer.

In February the council will be bringing its landscape management contract back in house.

Currently the contracts include the use of glyphosate, a weed killer which has been linked to cancer in a landmark case in America.

Now the council says it will be looking at options which do not contain the controversial ingredient.

A petition calling on the council to ban the weed killers containing glyphosate has been started by Croydon Friends of the Earth.

It currently has more than 100 signatures and was started by Peter Underwood.

On the petition Mr Underwood said: “The council should be doing its best to provide a clean, safe, green environment that we can enjoy without putting our health and the health of our families at risk.

“The World Health Organisation has stated that glyphosate, the active ingredient in many weed killers, is ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’.

“Recently a US court has also ruled that agricultural giant Monsanto (who manufacture Roundup, which contains glyphosate) was responsible for causing the cancer of groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson and awarded millions of dollars in damages.”

In August the agricultural company was told to pay $289 million to a man who claimed that spraying the weed killer caused his  non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

A spokesman for Croydon Council said: “Products such as glyphosate are subject to a rigorous and highly regulated approvals process before being permitted for use in the UK.

“The use of glyphosate may not always be the most appropriate method to help manage Croydon’s parks so the council will be looking at the different options that are available as the service is brought in-house.”

But there have been concerns about the chemical for more than two years.

Back in July 2016 Cllr Helen Pollard asked whether the council had plans to stop using round up.

The written answer then was: “Croydon continues to actively sought to reduce its use of herbicides and is regularly monitoring the industry for changes and improved products.”