Mr Cussans said the impact could be “massively consequential” on some farmers and their businesses, who may be forced to shift towards more costly weed control methods and face losing access to sustainability-focused subsidies.

Dr Helen Metcalfe, agricultural ecologist at Rothamsted Research, said the Kent case highlighted the “importance of moving away from overreliance on the herbicide as a method for controlling weeds”.

She said farmers can still use the weedkiller as “one of the tools in the toolkit, rather than as your main weed control method.

“It’s quite key that we act now to maintain the safe stewardship of this chemical, and this is our warning sign to start doing that.”

Additional reporting by PA Media.