If you care about our bees and pollinators, then get on your hands and knees this bank holiday weekend and get weeding.

Or use a hoe. Either way, just don’t use weedkillers.

The Spring Festival isn’t the only big event taking place in Petersfield, as the groundworks have also been set for The Great British Hoe-Down.

Members of the town’s green fraternity would like people to use old-fashioned methods to remove pavement and roadside weeds over the weekend.

They’ve made the call because they want to prevent Hampshire County Council from spraying the town’s pavements during the first weekend of June.

Campaigners like Julie Yardley and Anna Grey are worried about the long-term impacts of pesticides and insist spraying isn’t the answer to weed removal.

Julie said: “We just want to stop them using weedkillers as there’s now so many scientific papers saying it causes so many illnesses.

“So we’re asking people to hoe outside their houses and shops because if there’s no weeds to spray then HCC won’t spray.”

She added: “We’re also asking children to chalk pictures of bees and flowers on the pavement along with messages to HCC asking them not to spray.”

“It’s not that we’re suggesting we should have weeds everywhere and let things grow, and that’s not the message at all,” said Mrs Gray.

“We would like Petersfield to be prestigious and clean, but we can still have a tidy town without using chemicals.”

Numerous town centre businesses are taking part while garden hoes can be rented from Justin Bollard of Chapel Street Vintage & Antiques.

If you are participating in the town’s Great British Hoe-Down over the weekend then we would love to see your pictures. Send them to [email protected]