Happy Mondays dancer Bez is urging fans to start planting flowers to boost Britain's bee population.

The percussionist, real name Mark Berry, wants to help save the environment by doing his part to reverse the dramatic decline in honeybee colonies.

He is asking locals in his native Manchester, England, to start sowing seeds in their gardens so there will soon be more bees buzzing in the city.

Bez explains, "I want to do something good for the city, and the bee is the symbol of Manchester, so we should all be getting behind the bees. We need to be getting them back in the city centre, so I've said I'll donate a hive to The Printworks (venue in Manchester).

"I need everyone in Manchester to get planting flowers now, so that the bees having got something to feed off. The health benefits are enormous."