Environment secretary Owen Paterson will vote against a suspension of three pesticides linked to the harming of bees, FPJ understands.

Despite almost three-quarters (71 per cent) of the UK public backing the ban on neonicotinoids, according to the most recent YouGov poll, Paterson is not expected to support the measure when the European Commission (EC) votes on the moratorium this Friday.

The EC proposal is to ban the use of three neonicotinoids - supplied by Bayer CropScience, headquartered in Germany, and Syngenta, based in the UK - across the continent for two years from use on corn, oil seed rape, sunflowers and other flowering crops.

Currently around three-quarters of global food crops rely on bees and other insects to fertilise their flowers, with lobbyists insisting that neonicotinoids are resulting in reduced bee populations.

The proposed suspension has resulted in fierce lobbying on both sides.

Ian Bassin, of campaign group Avaaz, which has amassed 2.5 million signatures supporting a ban on neonicotinoids, has criticised Paterson's stance.

'Owen Paterson is about to put the short-term interests of farmers and the pesticide industry ahead of Britain's food supply,' said Bassin.

However, some chemical manufacturers claim that a suspension would reduce food production, and Julian Little of Bayer CropScience told UK newspaper The Guardian: 'We believe that the proposals remain ill thought-out, disproportionate and ignore all the good work carried out in the member states, in terms of stewardship and risk migration, to ensure that farmers continue to have access to these products to help them produce safe, high quality, affordable food.'

Defra has confirmed that it is currently carrying out extensive research into the impact of neonicotinoids on bees, but the results won't be ready before Friday's vote.

'I have asked the EC to wait for the results of our field trials, rather than rushing to a decision,' said Paterson back in February.