SCIENTISTS have warned that a Chinese crab invasion could ruin Scotland's rivers and kill our trout and salmon.

The Chinese mitten crab was found in Scotland for the first time in the River Clyde in recent months.

It eats our native species, steals their food and burrows into river banks, causing massive damage.

And if it gets to rivers where trout and salmon spawn, it will decimate their populations by eating their eggs.

Dr David Morritt of the University of London, who is tracking the crabs’ advance through the UK, said: “They could have a devastating impact in a Scottish river.”

It’s believed Chinese mitten crabs got to Britain by stowing away on a cargo ship. They established themselves in the Thames and are now moving north.

The crabs are the latest foreign invaders to threaten our native species.

The American signal crayfish has reached as far north as the Moray Firth, and grey squirrels have reduced the red squirrel population to 140,000, with 120,000 in Scotland.

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