West Sussex beekeeper under pressure from council

Qualified beekeeper Matt Thomas is worried he'll lose his bees at the Mill Road allotment, as he's under pressure from the council after a complaint.

He said: “I have kept bees successfully on the cemetery/Mill Lane allotment in Shoreham for the past two years. The bees are popular and liked by all my fellow plot holders and neighbours. Well, not all apparently, someone has made complaints to the council.

“Adur council wrote to me demanding I remove the bees, giving a final deadline of November 11. I have nowhere else to move the bees to and the council will not discuss options.

“Considering how the council supports increasing biodiversity and the benefits of bees, I find this behaviour odd.”

Adur District Council issued a statement, in response to Mr Thomas – denying claims that the bees would be destroyed.

A spokesperson said: “We have written to Mr Thomas to give him notice to quit his allotment after repeated instances of rule breaking.

“Mr Thomas was given retrospective permission to keep one hive on this allotment plot after taking it over from the previous tenant. He has since added two more hives to the plot without permission.

“We have never said we would destroy the bees and have given Mr Thomas every opportunity to conform with the rules and to find a new home for his bees.

"We have since extended the time frame for Mr Thomas to remove the bees and have also been trying to find the bees a home.”