COUNCIL-owned green spaces and grass verges won't be cut so often as part of a policy to protect bees and other insects.

Somerset County Council has joined with Friends of the Earth and Somerset Wildlife to help pollinators such as bees, butterflies and moths survive and thrive.

The aim is to protect and increase the amount and quality of pollinator habitats.

The Somerset Pollinator Action Plan outlines changes in ways of working within the county and district councils that will benefit the environment and should save costs while helping pollinating insect numbers.

Cllr David Hall, county cabinet member for economic development, planning and community infrastructure, said: "A healthy pollinator population is critical to the long-term health of agriculture.

"And Somerset’s rich habitats, open spaces and productive farmland give it an important part to play in the sustainable future of the country’s pollinator numbers."

Actions in the plan include:

•Promoting pollinator-friendly features in new developments;

•Ensuring green spaces in developments are pollinator friendly;

•Reducing grass-cutting by 25 per cent on council-owned green spaces;

•Identifying parkland where cutting can be reduced without affecting amenity areas;

•Using alternatives to pesticides where possible;

•Education about pollinator-friendly gardening activities;

•Reducing verge cutting to encourage growth of wildflowers;

•Creating verge areas seeded with wildflowers.

It will not affect the cutting of grass areas for road safety reasons or the council’s maintenance of designated community spaces.

Nationally, pollinators are estimated to contribute £600 million a year to the economy through the pollination of commercial crops - if the present declines continue, it could cost an estimated £1.8 billion per annum for the hand pollination of commercial plant species.

Indra Francesco, of Friends of the Earth in Somerset, said: "We’re delighted Somerset County Council is developing a Local Pollinator Strategy, which must protect and enhance our bee-friendly habitats and spaces and put the county at the forefront of action to protect these precious creatures. If there are no bees, there’s no cider."

Steve Mewes, of Somerset Wildlife Trust, said: "Somerset is a county whose economic health is inexorably linked to large scale crop pollination, and not only this, our wildlife food chains are dependent on good numbers of invertebrates - including pollinators.

“We need to ensure that we are delivering, optimising and connecting habitats and environments where pollinator populations can grow and thrive."