Monsanto has been ordered to pay $289m (£226m) damages to a man who claimed herbicides containing glyphosate had caused his cancer

Chemical giant Monsanto has been ordered to pay $289m (£226m) damages to a groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson,  a man who claimed herbicides containing glyphosate had caused his cancer.

The BBC reports says that “in a landmark case, a Californian jury found that Monsanto knew its Roundup and RangerPro weedkillers were dangerous and failed to warn consumers.

It’s the first lawsuit to go to trial alleging a glyphosate link to cancer.

Monsanto denies that glyphosate causes cancer and says it intends to appeal against the ruling. “The jury got it wrong,” vice-president Scott Partridge said outside the courthouse in San Francisco.

There are 5,000 similar cases across the US.