Eliot Lyne, CEO of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, said: 'For years, experts and more than 300,000 wildlife supporters, including many in Norfolk, have called for the ban against neonicotinoids to be upheld and we are delighted with this decision.

'This is a vital outcome for wildlife in our county. East Anglia is at the heart of the British sugar industry, home to the majority of around 3,000 sugar beet farmers and over 100,000 hectares of UK farmland devoted to beet production.

'There is simply no place in modern sustainable agriculture for highly toxic pesticides that kill bees and poison soils and rivers. Neonicotinoids were originally banned in the UK in 2017 but were granted repeat authorisations for use, despite explicit guidance against their approval.

'They are a key source of chemical pollution in our waterways, with 10% of UK rivers found to contain toxic neonicotinoid chemicals. Alarmingly for Norfolk's wildlife, a report published in 2024 showed that the largest numbers of neonics were found at single sites on the River Waveney and River Wensum.

'Many farmers across Norfolk have already turned their backs on these devastating chemicals and the focus must now be on a complete, sustainable transition away from a reliance on the use of neonicotinoids. We call on British Sugar to support farmers more in transitioning away from neonicotinoids and pay growers a fair price for producing beet without harming wildlife.'

Find out more and sign our petition calling for British Sugar to do more to help farmers produce neonic-free sugar, due to be handed to British Sugar next week, on 27 January.