A Bourne End resident has recalled the moment she came face-to-face with what she believes was a giant killer insect.

Debbie Heyes came home on Monday afternoon last week to discover a “huge” wasp-looking insect after hearing strange a buzzing noise coming from her lounge.

She suggests the creature was a Japanese Giant Hornet, a potentially deadly insect which is believed to have travelled into Europe back in 2004 and is thought to have killed five people in France last year.

Experts are currently urging people to report any sightings of the Asian hornet, which can also wipe out bee colonies.

Ms Heyes, who managed to photograph the insect, said: “I came into the lounge and I heard a buzzing noise, but not what you would usually hear from a fly.

“I have never seen anything so large in my life – it was huge. It looked like a wasp than had been blown up to be ten times bigger.

“It was about three inches long. I was quite frightened - I thought if it stung me then it might kill me.

“I have heard that Japanese hornets have been seen in Devon and Kent but not as far north as this.”

An expert from the Natural History Museum has confirmed to the BFP this afternoon that the sighting was a a false alarm, and that the creature was a common European hornet, Vespa crabro, which is native to the UK, and not the Asian variety.

However there have been numerous warning over the possible arrival of the giant insects, which have a 6mm venomous sting, are believed to have arrived in the country in a shipment of pottery from China back in 2004.

Their stings can cause anaphylactic shock and renal (kidney) failure. They result in thirty to forty deaths in their native Japan each year and are said to be able to kill 40 honey bees in just one minute.

An expert from the Natural History Museum confirmed this afternoon that the siting was a common European hornet, Vespa crabro, which is native to the UK.

A Bucks-based pest control expert, who didn't want to be named, said that he deals with around ten incidents of hornets each year – but as of yet has not encountered any Japanese Giant Hornets.

He described British hornets as “brown and yellow with brown heads” and said they can grow almost as large as a human thumb.

He confirmed that the insects are harmless if left alone, but may well attack if their nests are disturbed.

Since publishing the story, the BFP has received pictures from readers across the area who have also spotted large hornets - though currently there are no confirmed reports of the Asian variety here.

Bucks Free Press:

A hornet in Chesham

Bucks Free Press:

A hornet in West Wycombe