A COUNCIL has been named high fliers in the world of butterfly conservation.

Brighton and Hove City Council has received a national award in recognition of the creation of 15 butterfly havens in the city during the past seven years.

The council has won the prestigious Promotion of Lepidoptera Conservation Award recognising an “outstanding, unprecedented or major contribution” to the conservation of butterflies and moths.

The award was presented by Peter Titley, trustee of the Marsh Christian Trust, the charity that supports organisations across the fields of conservation and education, at the recent Annual General Meeting of Butterfly Conservation.

The conservation award recognised the local authority’s work during the past seven years by council staff and conservationists to create butterfly havens across the city from East Brighton Park and Carden Avenue to Hove Lagoon, Greenleas and Mile Oak recreation ground.

The city’s first butterfly haven at Dorothy Stringer School has hosted 27 different butterflies since it was created seven years ago.

Dr Dan Danahar, habitat restoration officer for Butterfly Conservation’s Sussex Branch, said: “These havens have effectively brought the delights of the chalk Downs within the reach of city dwellers.”

Councillor Pete West, chairman of the council’s environment, sustainability and transport committee, said: “I’m extremely proud that we have been able to create these magnificent havens which are already attracting many butterfly species back to the city.”