On today’s show we rejoiced at the news that a Government run website has fallen foul of changes of ownership to the links visitors to the website were being directed.

The Department of the Environment’s website offering advice on planting “bee-friendly” flowers to help pollinating insects recently suffered a glitch when the “find out more” section directed people  to an escort service website where they were provided with offers such as “Get laid for free! Sex does not have to be complicated”.

It seems that sometime over the past 5 years, there was a change in ownership of the original domain name for the Bees’s Needs website, which is now used by an adult website.

Embarrassed officials at DEFRA insist that the Bees Needs website was never a government page, but no-one seems to be quite certain for how long people may have been re-directed to the adult site.

Adam White, a user of the page who spotted the problem, claimed the error showed the government did not take the threat to pollinators seriously. ‘It’s disturbing to think people such as myself, who are sincerely trying to help pollinators, are not being directed to the correct site,” he said

The website now asks users to search for the Bees Needs site run by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

It would be interesting to know if interest in the website will now wane following discovery of the error!

No such difficulties for Margaret Mills who returned with another of her historical gems. Listen hear to learn more about Woodham Walter Hall which used to stand near Maldon: –

I’ll see you again next time,
Scott