UK rejects Friends of the Earth's bid to stop 'bee-harming' pesticide use

British environmental campaigners have lost their bid to challenge the lifting of a ban on the use of “bee-harming” pesticides in four English counties.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) were refused permission to apply for judicial review of a decision allowing farmers to drill oilseed rape seeds coated with two neonicotinoid pesticides this autumn.

Mrs Justice Patterson ruled FoE’s case was “unarguable on all grounds”.