Following announcements by hardware and DIY retailers that they would remove products found to present an "unacceptable risk" to bees by European Food Safety Authority scientists, Garden centres in the UK also pledged to cease stocking the offending products this week.

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The announcement by Notcutts, Hillier, Squires and Blue Diamond, which operate 60 garden centres across the UK, follows similar moves by DIY superstores B&Q, Homebase and Wickes. The retailers all made their pledges in reaction to the publication of an EFSA risk assessment which found certain neonicotinoid pesticides may be having harmful effects on bees.

Over 30 peer-reviewed scientific studies have come to similar conclusions since 2009.  

Although individual EU states' authorities are free to ignore EFSA's risk assessment, a policy which the UK government has adopted, the European Commission has supported restrictions of the three neonicotinoid chemicals identified in the food safety watchdog's report. A ban on the use of neonicotinoids to treat crops attractive to bees could come into force as early as July.

Andrew Pendleton, spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, which has called for a ban of neonicotinoids and urged the UK government to develop a 'National Bee Plan' to address population declines of the important pollinating insects commented on Friday, "The approach of leading retailers stands in stark contrast to the Government's reluctance to back European efforts to safeguard bees from pesticides."

He added, "With bee numbers plummeting Environment Secretary Owen Paterson must take urgent action to safeguard these crucial pollinators by backing a ban and introducing a bee action plan to tackle all the threats they face."

However, pesticide manufacturers continue to contest the EFSA's conclusions, claiming the watchdog's analysis is "fundamentally flawed." Swiss agrochemical company Syngenta has suggested that EFSA scientists used excessively high seed planting rates in their assessment. It is requesting the Commission reconsider its ruling on neonicotinoids.

Bayer CropScience has also rejected the findings, though EFSA pesticide expert Herman Fontier told the UK government Environmental Audit Committee that Bayer's allegation the EFSA had not taken all available research into account left him baffled. He explained that the company had "submitted the data package [to EFSA], which we have evaluated, from the first to the last study.”