THE developers behind a new Cottingham supermarket are removing Japanese knotweed after it was reported nearby.
The plant, which was grown by Victorians along railway embankments to bind them together, can strip apart foundations and concrete.
Removing it is a time-consuming, expensive and specialised job.
Now, crops have been spotted near the site of a new supermarket in Station Road.
Lena Slater, East Riding councillor for Cottingham South, said: "There have been somewhere between five and seven different identifications of Japanese knotweed in Station Road.
"You have to use specialists and send it to specialist sites to get rid of it because it's so resilient.
"Once it starts, it will grow through concrete."
The plant spreads through root growth, not by seed, so it only becomes a problem if it needs to be moved.
Cllr Slater said there was no need for families living nearby to be concerned but the Environment Agency has been asked to investigate.
She said: "We have to be sensible about it. We don't want everybody in the area running scared, but we have informed the Environment Agency.
"We're hoping they will come and look at it and deal with it properly.
"It's a plant people think is more dangerous than it actually is, because you can get rid of it."
Simon Dixon, of supermarket developer Innovating Space, said the plant had been known about for some time and was mentioned in his company's ecological report."
A firm has already been commissioned to remove it before work starts on the supermarket.
Planning permission was granted more than a year ago but builders have not yet moved in.
It attracted stiff opposition at the time from some villagers, who were concerned independent trade would suffer and traffic would increase.
Almost 1,000 people signed a petition against the supermarket and hundreds of homeowners also wrote to East Riding Council with objections, raising concerns about flood risks, traffic jams, wildlife and litter.
The £20m building is expected to create up to 250 jobs in the village.
Surveys by Innovating Space suggested most families supported it.
The Mail understands the detail is still being finalised on who will take over the new supermarket before construction work begins.
• The destructive bamboo-like plant has been sprouting across the country in recent years and the Government estimates it would take £1.5billion to clear the infestation. It can grow more than 9ft in just ten weeks, and easily spreads from neighbouring homes, wasteland, waterways, railway lines or footpaths. Its extensive deep roots can penetrate roads, concrete, damage foundations and drains. Small building societies such as Skipton and Leeds will decline mortgage applications on properties where Japanese knotweed is present. Others such as Barclays Bank, which also owns the Woolwich, and Santander, will decline them unless work is undertaken to remove it. While those such as Northern Rock, Clydesdale and Nationwide will consider it with guarantees or an indemnity in place, and guidance from a surveyor.
