Valentine bouquet that has come 33,800 miles to reach London

Figures show a huge increase in the number of cut flowers transported to his country by air in the past 10 years, from locations as far flung as Colombia and India.

Environmental groups warn 'flower miles' have serious implications in terms of fuel emissions from aeroplanes and the pressure placed on Third World water supplies.

Vicki Hird of Friends of the Earth said: "Our concerns are in terms of greenhouse gases and the use of chemicals and water.

"We don't wish to be killjoys because receiving flowers canbe lovely, but they are dead. Why not grow your own gift?"

Andrew Sims, policy director of the New Economics Foundation, said: "There are plenty of flowers that grow in Britain in the winter and don't need to be hothoused.

"My front garden - a typical London postage stamp - is full of hellebores and snowdrops at the moment.

"Often, the poverty reduction benefits in a developing country are questionable because the business is foreign-owned.

"They are energy- and water-intensive, so while the village is going thirsty the local plantation gets priority access.

"Meanwhile, air freighting flowers half way round the world contributes to global warming.

"You can argue the planes would be flying anyway but the amount of greenhouse gases pumped out depends on the weight of the cargo."

Campaigners also fear the rules protecting staff from pesticides are less strict.

A Colombian farm has been condemned for poisoning 200 staff.

The Government's latest Official Trade Statistics show that in the past three years the quantity of flowers we get from the Netherlands has fallen 47 per cent from 177,000 to 94,000 tonnes a year.

Imports from Africa have risen 39 per cent to 17,600 tonnes. They have gone up 200 per cent since 1998. Imports of roses from Ethiopia have grown 130-fold since 2003, from just one tonne to 130 tonnes a year.

Kenya is the second biggest exporter of flowers to Britain, followed by Colombia and Spain.

The market has nearly doubled in a decade. We now import more than £315 million of flowers while exporting just £16 million, yet the typical Briton only spends £39 a year on them.

"That's very little when you think what we spend on CDs, coffee and even lipstick," said Andrea Caldecourt, of the Flowers and Plants Association.

She said the boom in Third World flower farms provides employment, schools and doctors' surgeries, as well as hard currency.

"All this reduces the need for charitable donations from Europe," she added.

THE GROWTH OF FLOWER IMPORTS (IN TONNES)

Netherlands 75,790 (2001) 94,066 (2006)

Kenya 10,183 (2001) 16,509 (2006)

Colombia 8,017 (2001)9,453 (2006)

South Africa 145 (2001)508 (2006)

Ecuador 222 (2001)449 (2006)

Costa Rica 218 (2001)401 (2006)

India 77 (2001)207 (2006)

Thailand 101 (2001)101 (2006)

Zambia 1 (2001)83 (2006)

Ethiopia 0 (2001)130 (2006)

Philippines 2 (2001)34 (2006)

Taiwan 0 (2001)113 (2006)

Sri Lanka 4 (2001)23 (2006)

Peru 6 (2001)25 (2006)