Local MP Daniel Zeichner has urged the Government to stick to their guns and reject a revised application to use neonicotinoid pesticides.

Three neonicotinoids – thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid – have been banned in the EU after they were implicated in the collapse of honey bee populations.

But farmers want emergency authorisation to use neonicotinoids on rape crops and a decision is due to be made on 14 June.

Friends of the Earth, a key opponent of nicotinoids, has urged the Government to refuse the application.

Head of campaigns Andrew Pendleton said it would be “reckless” for the Government to allow emergency use, having turned a similar request down last month.

Daniel Zeichner MP who is a leading member of the All Party Parliamentary Bee Group, a species champion for the Ruderal Bumblebee and Vice President of the Cambridgeshire Bee Keepers Association said: “Bees are essential for pollinating our crops. If we gamble with the bees’ future we gamble with our own future too. Europe has got it right banning these pesticides. Now the government must uphold the ban and protect our bees.”