SIX Yorkshire Water sites have been identified as pollinator hotspots and are to become superhighways to protect endangered bees and wildlife.

Pollinator superhighways are a series of pathways which aim to reverse the decline of wild pollinators and improve and restore wildlife diversity, linking existing wildlife areas together.

Yorkshire Water is partnering with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust's Bee Together project, which works to create an unbroken network of habitat for pollinators through both countryside and urban areas, providing £30,000 of funding to the six sites - Fewston, Swinsty, Thruscross, Embsay, Grimwith and Barden reservoirs.

Catherine Mercer, Bee Together officer, said: “The 2016 State of Nature reported 60 per cent of bees and other pollinators are in decline. Bees face a wide range of threats from toxic pesticides to climate change, however the most significant reason for their decline is the loss of wildflower-rich habitats. Working with Yorkshire Water on their sites is a great opportunity to protect and create pollinator habitat as part of a wider network.”