A deadly fungal disease that threatens to devastate the UK's native ash trees has been discovered in six new counties.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the chalara fraxinea fungus, which causes leaf loss and crown dieback and can lead to tree death, has now been found in 115 sites.
New cases of ash dieback have been confirmed in Sussex, Berkshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Bedfordshire and Northumberland - in addition to Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent and Essex where it had already been identified in the countryside.
These include 61 cases in the wider countryside, 39 planting areas and 15 tree nurseries.
Officials asserted the fresh discoveries did not mean the disease was spreading rapidly, but that it was likely to have been present in these areas for a number of years, originally caused by spores blown in from mainland Europe.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson The results of the urgent survey of 1,000 sites by the Forestry Commission over the weekend come as tree experts prepare to sit down to discuss the problem with government and industry officials at a summit hosted by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson.
A huge public response to mobile phone app AshTag, which has been collating pictures of possible sightings of the tree disease, could push the number of confirmed cases even higher.
AshTag has told Sky News that around 400 images have been posted on the app so far, but the number is "increasing all of the time".
Photographs have been submitted from across the UK, and its experts have identified "likely areas" - sightings which appear to show symptoms indicative of the disease - in Shropshire, Leicestershire, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Surrey.
Some 27 images have been referred to the Forestry Commission for further investigation to verify whether they are confirmed cases of ash dieback or not.
The Chalara fraxinea fungus has already wiped out 90% of ash trees in Denmark in seven years and is becoming widespread throughout central Europe.
The Government has been accused of dragging its feet over the issue after the alarm was first raised back in March, and the first confirmed British cases of ash dieback last month in East Anglia.
There are growing concerns the problem may be worse than previously thought and that the country's ash trees are facing a similar fate to its elms, which were destroyed by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s.
Ministers insist they are taking the problem seriously and have brought in a ban on imports of ash trees and set up a task force to tackle the issue.
Mr Paterson, who convened a Cobra crisis committee last Friday to examine the latest developments and co-ordinate action, has also been holding meetings twice daily to discuss the problem with experts.
He told Sky News: "I really want to get the very best ideas to decide how we do handle this disease because the ash tree is a key part of our rural environment."
Ash trees make up around 30% of the UK's wooded landscape.
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