WILTSHIRE environmentalists have accused Wiltshire County Council of dragging its heels over measures to keep the county GM free and called it the weakest link in the South West.

Friends of the Earth say all other county councils in the region have signed up to GM-free resolutions as have neighbouring Oxfordshire and Hampshire.

Altogether 50 councils have joined Friends of the Earth's national campaign www.GMFreeBritain.com in a bid to keep the countryside free of genetically modified crops.

Wiltshire County Council is still undecided about the stance it will take on GM crops but leader Coun Jane Scott said consultation and discussions would soon be underway.

"We have already encouraged schools to be GM free, but we were waiting for the Government to bring out guidance before making any further decisions," she said.

"We want to get people from both sides of the argument. We want to make an informed decision.

"However, I do not know how much the county council can do as a local authority."

She said the legality of banning GM crops from county council-owned farmland would also have to be examined.

In the late 1990s Wiltshire County Council adopted policies to ensure its catering services only supplied GM free foods.

Wiltshire Friends of the Earth has asked the local authority to go one step further by making sure no land under its control is used to grow GM crops and to do all that it can to set up GM-free zones to protect the interests of other farmers or food providers.

Jean Saunders, spokesman for Wiltshire Friends of the Earth, said: "We are counting on Wiltshire's local authorities to ensure that Wiltshire people can still eat GM-free food and that we won't kiss goodbye to the expanding organic farming market in the county."