Despite the warm weather, residents of one street had to lock their doors and windows over the weekend as they were visited by a huge swarm of buzzing insects.
The 'terrifying wasps', said to be in their tens of thousands, buzzed their way along Fitzherbert Road in the Sneyd Green area of Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday at 11:35am, StokeonTrentLive reports.
Dozens of readers got in touch about a large number of insects around the North Staffordshire region, including in and around Junction Road in Leek.
Callum Lane and his partner Bethany Bourne, both aged 20, filmed this short clip of the swarm - measuring around four metres by 15 metres - after noticing a loud humming noise like a strimmer.
However, pest control experts believe the public are wrongly identifying the insects as wasps due their striped abdomens but they are, in fact, far more likely to be honey bees.
Callum, of Fitzherbert Road, said: "I have never seen so many in one place before. It was something else, there were that many.
"At the time my partner, Bethany, was on the front door step and we heard what sounded like a strimmer and I asked her what the noise was.
"We closed all the doors and windows. They hung around for five or 10 minutes before wandering down the street.
"The swarm was the width of the road and around 15 metres long. We thought it was best to stay away. Even the postman turned around and wouldn't come down.
"I was a bit fearful but intrigued at the same time. I wasn't going outside when they were right there. It was like something out of a film.
"I don't know where they had come from. We didn't know whether we should report them or not but we did see pest control come.
"It could be connected to the weather we've been having but I had never seen anything like it. You expect this more in really hot places, not the UK at Easter. It's very had to say but there seemed to be tens of thousands of them."
Pest controllers have now offered advice on what to do should you spot a huge swarm of insects.
Garry Leech, who runs Cheddleton-based Town and Country Pest Control, has received 15 to 20 calls a day in the last week.
He told StokeonTrentLive: "A lot of people wrongly believe they have a wasp nest at the moment but it's not the right time of year. It's not until July that the big dome nests appear. In all likelihood these are honey bees that are coming out.
"They will move along in their own time and aren't aggressive."
Garry added: "It's no different to any other year although although it's perhaps slightly earlier due to the weather.
"There are far more people outside enjoying the sun having picnics and barbecues which is why it seems like we're seeing more. When it rains, we're all stuck indoors but the insects are still there. People are just noticing them more.
"It's the heat, humidity and the lengthening of the day that wakes them up and it always happens within the space of around two weeks.
"The most important thing is to get a positive ID if you think you have a nest."
