BEES have a new friends in the shape of Ledbury's MP, Bill Wiggin.

Mr Wiggin is supporting the Bee Cause campaign to call on the Government to improve its plan to protect bees.

Bill Wiggin MP met Friends of the Earth campaigners at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham last month to encourage the Government to improve its plan, due to be published this autumn, to protect bees and other vital pollinating insects.

Bill Wiggin MP said: “I have bees at home and I would like to see them flourishing. The role which bees play in the food chain cannot be understated, and a severe decline in our bee population could have major consequences for food production.

"It’s clear that many people locally and around the country are deeply concerned about the loss of our bees."

Mr Wiggin added: "I’m backing Friends of the Earth’s Bee Cause Campaign for a tough national Bee Action Plan that fully tackles all the threats that bees face."

A total of 97% of the UK’s wildflower meadows have disappeared in the past 60 years; and important bee habitat continues to be lost to development.

Friends of the Earth Chief Executive, Andy Atkins, said: “It’s crunch time for our bees – people, businesses and politicians from all parties have persuaded the Government to draw up an action plan to reverse bee decline.

“But the draft is too vague about how farmers and developers will help bees and fails to tackle the widespread use of toxic pesticides

That’s why it’s so important that MPs like Bill Wiggin MP have put their support behind the campaign to make sure that Britain’s hard-working bees get the proper rescue plan they need.”