A new hotel has opened in London’s East End which has already become bug-ridden on its first day.
The five-storey hotel where guests are supposed to be pampered and made to feel as snug as a bug in a rug has been officially sanctioned by the Mayor for a select clientele.
But already the bugs have moved in, the only guests in fact who are allowed to book reservations.
The new Creepy Crawlies bug hotel in Limehouse has been built by schoolkids to clean up wasteland that was plagued by human drug-addicts.
Children at Cyril Jackson Primary have transformed the empty space at Bate Street, which had been attracting anti-social behaviour.
“We decided to smarten up the little green which became tatty and was being used for drugs and loitering,” the school’s marketing manager Toby de Ville Shaw explained.
“Our pupils built a bug hotel using pallets filled with straw and foliage for the ‘guests’ to keep snug in.”
The youngsters piled up five wooden pallets like a five-storey hotel for insects to help create biodiversity in their urban neighbourthood.
They were joined by volunteers from Spitalfields City Farm, Canary Wharf Group and Tower Hamlets council’s Green team who cleared debris, put up fences, filled pot-holes and repaired brickwork.
Children came up with a list of names for the site. The winner was Sebri Nasir with ‘Creepy Crawlies Patch’ who was given a £30 book token by Canary Wharf Group.
Even Mayor Lutfur Rahman approved. He said: “I wish the children of Cyril Jackson Primary luck with their ‘Creepy Crawlies’ hotel.”
Families in Limehouse are taking ownership of Creepy Crawlies Patch, helped by the Green team with tools, plants and advice. It is part of a Town Hall programme for those without their own gardens to ‘adopt’ a space. They can download details with a ‘Find it, Fix it, Love it’ app online.
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