A WILD flower that only grew in York, and has long since been extinct, has returned from the dead thanks to science.

The York groundsel - memorably described as a 'scruffy-looking weed' by the scientist who discovered it - was found growing on waste ground in 1979.

For a time its cheery yellow flowers were seen on railway sidings and next to car parks.

Only five similar discoveries have been made in Britain and North America in the last 100 years.

A genetic analysis has shown it was the product of natural hybridisation between the common groundsel, a native British plant, and the Oxford ragwort, which was introduced to Britain from Sicily 300 years ago.

But the species didn't survive for long - partly due to over-zealous use of weedkiller by York Council.

However, before it vanished researchers managed to harvest three small plants which were kept on a windowsill in the University of York.

They soon died but their seeds were sent to the Millennium Seed Bank, at Kew.

And now they have returned in Britain's first ever de-extinmction event.

Natural England planted 100 seeds at the Rare British Plants Nursery in Wales. And too researchers' delighted 98 of them germinated and produced a host of new plants.

So earlier this year new seeds were secretly sown into special pots around York.

And this week the first plants began to flower on the streets and railway sidings of the city.

Alex Prendergast, a vascular plant senior specialist for Natural Englan, told The Guardian: “It’s a smiley, happy-looking yellow daisy and it’s a species that we’ve got international responsibility for.

“It only lives in York, and it only ever lived in York. It’s also got an important value as a pollinator and nectar plant in the area because it flowers almost every month of the year.”

And luckily for the little yellow flowers - York Council has changed its policy on weedkiller since 2000.