A BUTTERLY bank complete with 1,000 plants is attracting visitors as well as a host of the brightly coloured insects.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s parks team joined forces with the Brighthelm Trust’s gardening group and youth ranger volunteers from the Sussex Wildlife Trust to create the feature in Brighthelm Gardens, off Queen’s Road.

At about 12 metres long, and created from six tonnes of chalk, it is hoped the bank will provide a haven for butterflies, bees, hoverflies and other pollinating insects.

It is made up of a low bank of undulating chalk mounds – resembling a miniature version of the downland surrounding the city.

Plants from around 20 wild flower species have been planted, including ox-eye daisy, harebell, wild marjoram, wild basil, common toadflax, small scabious, lesser knapweed, bird’s foot trefoil, dropwort, chamomile, betony, wild carrot and kidney vetch.

They were all grown at the council’s nursery at Stanmer Park from seeds collected from chalk grasslands around the city.

The bank, the newest of 15 in the city, is part of the Brighton and Lewes Downs Biosphere programme which aims to get people in touch with nature and improve the city's parks and green spaces.

The Brighthelm Trust will tend the butterfly bank, cutting and composting vegetation at the end of each year.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, chairman of the council's environment committee, said: “Volunteers and staff have created a haven for wildlife in the very heart of the city. Thousands of people pass the gardens every day on their way to and from the station, and we hope residents and visitors will enjoy colourful displays of wild flowers as the plants become established. It is community wildlife projects like these that helped to achieve the internationally recognised biosphere status."

Rik Child, director of The Brighthelm Trust, said: “This new development sits well alongside the demonstration vegetable garden, wild flower patch and composting facilities that have been developed in recent years with help from the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, the city council and other partners."