UP to 40,000 bees died after hives were damaged by workmen building the guided bus way in Tyldesley.

Phillip Adedeji, aged 60, was devastated to find that his apiary on land just off Manchester Road had been destroyed.

It is believed that workmen from Balfour Beatty disturbed the bee colony.

Mr Adedeji, who lives in Aspull, has five sites across the borough, and discovered the damage on a regular visit to the land.

He said: “I should have had 20,000 to 40,000 bees in that hive and when I went the other day there are about 20. Some of the bees were either crushed when the hives split apart, or died during a feeding frenzy when the honey was exposed, or were attacked by wasps. There was honey and syrup everywhere."

He added that there was about £120 worth of honey in the hives.

Mr Adedeji said it is the third incident since the construction of the guided bus way began and claims workers have already disturbed his hives before, once by spraying weed killer.

He added: “They didn’t notify me that they had knocked the hives over, if they had it wouldn’t have caused half as much chaos as it has. I have lost that colony now and one of them was one of the strongest. The bees have been at that site for five years.

A representative from Balfour Beatty said: “We are very sorry that last week we accidentally knocked over a beehive by unintentionally disturbing plant roots beneath the hive which is immediately adjacent to our work site.

“We have personally apologised to the hive owner and opened dialogue with him to understand how we can redress the situation.

“Balfour Beatty takes its responsibilities to the local communities and environments in which it operates very seriously and we are further exploring our approach to our works to understand how we can avoid such an occurrence in the future.”