LONDON may boast the real Buckingham Palace – but Worcestershire is home to the award-winning Bugingham Palace.

The luxury residence for creepy-crawlies, which features a haven of nooks and crannies mini-beasts find irresistible, has been created by Holt Heath farmer Wendy Field.

With help from her children, she designed it as part of a national wildlife gardening contest and overcame more than 100 other entries to scoop the top prize in the individual category.

She said: “Building a bug hotel has been on my mind for a while and this competition came at exactly the right time.

“As part of our farm diversification we have applied to run a luxury ‘glampsite’ in one of the fields which we want to be wildlife and eco-friendly haven - a bug hotel is the perfect addition.

“I took my children to see the real Buckingham Palace over the summer, which provided enough inspiration to get them away from the television over half-term and actively involved in its creation.

“Linking it to the real Buckingham Palace made our design more interesting for the children and so Bugingham Palace was born.

“As we’re on a farm, we have all sorts of bits and bobs lying around to construct it so all we needed was our imagination.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming our bug guests’ arrival.”

The competition was run by Wild About Gardens, a partnership initiative between The Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Horticultural Society.

It aimed to encourage gardeners, schools and community groups to provide much-needed places in which pollinators can spend the winter.

Amy Lewis, one of the competition judges, said: “We are thrilled with the entries received.

“There was fierce competition but everyone who entered into the spirit of this competition clearly considered the needs of our pollinators and got pleasure from executing the challenge, providing somewhere secure for our garden friends to survive and thrive.

“Our winners are particularly exceptional examples of what can be done with a little planning and plenty of creativity and will truly reap the rewards of their efforts in the spring as the bugs emerge to pollinate plants

“The judges really liked the creative design of Wendy’s entry.

“Bugingham Palace was modelled on Her Majesty’s famous residence – complete with a flying flag to show that the Queen Bee is at home.”