A BEEKEEPER has said he will sue the council if they make him remove his hives from an allotment.

Jason Clegg has been ordered to remove his five hives of honey bees from the Willwood Avenue allotment in Oakes.

Kirklees Council said his furry insects must go as they are, under the 1950 Allotments Act, ‘livestock’.

But Mr Clegg argues bees are not legally defined as livestock and Kirklees has no grounds to make him remove his 100,000 workers, drones and queens.

Mr Clegg, of Longwood, says he will sue Kirklees for breaching their contract over the council-owned allotment if he is forced to remove his bees.

Now the council has agreed to discuss the problem face-to-face on July 2.

In a letter to Kirklees, Jason wrote: “Under the Animals Act of 1971 there is very clear legal definition of what livestock constitutes.

“Honey bees are not legally defined as livestock and as such your instruction to remove them has no legal credence.

“With this in mind your reason for my threatened eviction is unsound, and I have taken the decision to continue to hive the bees in their current position.

“If the council attempts to force my eviction...I shall have no alternative but to sue Kirklees Council for breach of contract and shall of course be left with no alternative to pursue for a judgement for costs and damages.

“However, I sincerely wish to avoid this action and again I am offering to work with you to help establish a mechanism for the hiving of honey bees on Kirklees allotments.”

Mr Clegg added: “I’m pleased to be invited for a meeting. Hopefully we can find a good solution that will benefit both honey bees, Kirklees and the community as a whole. I’m very optimistic.”

Mr Clegg has won the support of Lindley councillor Tony Woodhead and Colne Valley MP Kali Mountford.

Liberal Democrat Clr Woodhead said: “Kirklees in supposed to be in favour of biodiversity and being green and it seems a pity not to come to some sort of arrangement.”

Rodney Whitefoot, 64, claims he was stung on the face as thousands of bees flew from their hive on the Willwood Avenue allotment site.

Now he and his wife Karen have backed the council’s decision to move the bees off the site.

Mr Clegg said he was only aware of one stinging incident on the allotment and had not heard of Mr Whitefoot’s incident.