A PARK has been recognised for cultivating bee-friendly plants.

The Level in Brighton is one of only three parks in the south-east and one of 15 across England to win the award, given by environmental group Keep Britain Tidy as part of the Green Flag Awards.

Parks staff at Brighton and Hove City Council and volunteer gardeners at The Level were jointly handed the Bees Needs award.

The University of Sussex has also been involved in providing the bee-friendly plant species for The Level's flower beds.

Professor Francis Ratnieks, professor of Apiculture, said: “It is great to be partnering the enthusiastic people at The Level.

"Over the past six years, the university has been carrying out research on the use of garden plants by bees and other insects, and this is a chance to bring the research to the public.

“We made a list of 14 bee and butterfly friendly garden plants that bloom in the summer and supplied these to The Level. They can be used to help educate the public to see how easy it is to grow bee-friendly plants. They are also good for enabling us to count the number of bees and insects.”

The Bees Needs Award for Innovation is supported by Defra and the National Pollinator Strategy.

The accolade recognises a range of measures carried out as part of restoration of The Level, which was completed by the council in 2013.

Among these is the new "bee bed" in the north-west corner of the park, which includes many garden plants that people can grow themselves to benefit a variety of pollinators.

The university's outreach work was based on research which involved studying the attractiveness of summer-flowering plants to bees and other flower-visiting insects.

The research was carried out using a special garden planted behind the library on the university's Falmer campus.

The bee-friendly flower bed at The Level was also aided by the ongoing collaboration through the Brighton and Lewes Downs Biosphere programme to improve urban green spaces.

The University of Sussex is one of more than 40 local organisations involved in the biosphere partnership.