Leek's deputy mayor has said it has been an "honour" for Leek to achieve bee friendly status.

The town was named as a bee friendly town by the London based charity Bee Friendly Trust, who aim to establish more areas around the country that can sustain bees.

Bee Friendly towns meet certain criteria such as creating bee friendly schools, sharing seeds and being creative in supporting bees and other pollinators in gardens and plots.

Leek's deputy mayor, Cllr Bill Cawley, contacted the Trust last year and has kept the organisation informed of developments such as the " Bee Hotel" scheme that he and Cllr Phil Taylor have supported at Westwood First School.

Leek joins Arundel in Sussex, Tring in Herts and Kenilworth in Warwickshire as the first four designated bee friendly towns.

Councillor Cawley said: "It is an honour to receive this recognition. Leek is the most northerly of the four towns.

"I think it is important to make sure that the award is not seen as tokenistic and we see this as the start of a process and not the end.

"I think it is important that we have established a group and we look forward to sharing experience and solutions.

"Things that have worked as well as things that have not worked. After all this is a learning opportunity as much as anything else.

"We would want to work with local groups such as the well organised bee keeper organisations.

"One intention I think all Leek Town Councillors will support is encouraging all the schools in Leek to be a network of eco communities."