An insect conservation charity has said “something has gone radically wrong” for bugs and invertebrate species after a noticeable reduction in their numbers. Buglife said it feared that invertebrates faced an extinction crisis, and without them humans and other life forms could not survive.

Buglife, an organisation based in Peterborough, said there had been a decrease in pollinators, which had been noticed by residents and could be seen through a reduced number of elderflower berries.

Research from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust confirmed there had been an insect decline of 37% over 50 years.

Paul Hetherington, the director of fundraising at Buglife, told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: “There is definitely a huge decline in the number of insects that people are seeing.