Berkshire County also borders Connecticut, where the borer has been found, and Vermont, where it has not.

WSJ: Mass. creates quarantine zone to contain insect

Lambert said businesses can still transport wood to mills in New York, which has emerald ash borer quarantines in counties that border Berkshire County.

WSJ: Mass. creates quarantine zone to contain insect

Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Ed Lambert said allowing Berkshire County wood to be shipped statewide would have made the beetle far more difficult to contain.

WSJ: Mass. creates quarantine zone to contain insect

Beginning March 1, no hardwood firewood, ash nursery stock or untreated ash lumber will be allowed outside Berkshire County, where the emerald ash borer was found last summer in trees in Dalton, a few miles from the New York border.

WSJ: Mass. creates quarantine zone to contain insect

The three-hour route starts at Paddington Station and heads west along Westway, passing just north of Heathrow airport and into the quieter, less crowded county of Berkshire.

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Police in Berkshire have admitted hare coursing remains a problem in the county.

BBC: Berkshire police admit hare coursing remains a problem'

Colleagues in Berkshire fielded 999 calls while control staff relocated to a Hampshire County Council building.

BBC: Butser Hill in the snow

Nicole Targett, corporate communications manager for Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said fire authority's plans were "part of a county-wide programme to improve levels of fire cover where it is most needed".

BBC: NEWS | UK | England | Berkshire | Council challenges fire service

"We have been exporting waste to Bedford, to Cambridge, to north London and parts of Berkshire for so long that quite correctly we are under pressure to organise it ourselves within the county, " he said.

BBC: Protesters placards outside county hall