PRONE to spark panic around the beer garden, wrongly besmirched and under the threat of extinction, the humble bee has had life pretty tough in recent years.

But now the fight back for this buzzy insect's future is well and truly on - with council chiefs looking to make Worcestershire a landmark county for their protection.

The county council wants to designate Worcestershire a 'Pollinator Friendly County' so it creates the right habitat for the endearing creatures to thrive.

The move comes after years of alarming declines in bee species, which is down by a third since 2007 and could be wiped out within a decade unless things change.

County Hall's Conservative has produced a motion, which has now been accepted by all of Worcestershire's political parties, to work towards action to protect pollinators, including:

- Looking at the management of all council-owned land to make sure there are enough suitable landscapes for them to thrive

- Promoting bee keeping among the wider community and spreading information on how businesses can also help

- A new project to place pollinator friendly plants around Worcestershire Pollinators include bees but also butterflies, months, beetles and hoverflies - but all their numbers have been falling in both the UK and Worcestershire.

Yet the economic value of honey bees and bumble bees alone as pollinators of commercially grown crops in Britain is more than £200 million a year.

Three bumble bee species have become extinct and another eight have declined around the nation over recent decades, with the use of land, climate change, and the use of chemicals and pests all contributing factors.

The motion says the insects are "particularly important in a county with a large agricultural and horticultural industry" such as Worcestershire where food like fruit, grains, seeds and animal feed is grown on a big scale.

It was backed unanimously during a full council meeting, with Councillor Anthony Blagg, the cabinet member for the environment, saying "£10 million to £13 million is spent in this country on honey" alone.

Councillor Liz Eyre said: "I support this motion, clearly there is more work to do."

The examination of council-owned land, if it goes ahead, will include looking at roadside verges.

The motion will now be sent to the Tory cabinet.