Huge 'Flesh-Melting’ Asian Hornets Have Arrived In Britain From France

Beverley’s hornet [SWNS]

Deadly Asian hornets capable of ‘melting human flesh’ may have arrived in the UK just in time to ruin summer.

The creatures were blamed for five deaths in France last year, and a series of sightings in the south of England suggest that they have crossed the Channel.

The latest was in Devon, where Beverely Palfreman spotted the bug on her windowsill.

The mother-of-three of Sampford Chapple, nr Okehampton, Devon, said: “I was terrified. I just don’t do insects.

"I was in the lounge and we have got a wood burner and I kind of heard something in the burner.

The hornets are around 3cm long [SWNS]

"I didn’t pay any attention to it but then I heard a noise outside of it and saw something crawling on the window sill.

"I thought to myself, that’s huge, that must be a cockroach but it had wings.

"My phone was out and I took a video and nearly swore.”

Beverley, a retired occupational therapist, took to the internet to try to identify the mystery menace, which had a yellow head and brown body with faint yellow band.

Further hornets have reportedly been spotted in Kent, Surrey and Sussex over the past weeks.

Despite the sightings, Asian hornets are not yet officially recorded in the UK. But expansion from non-native population in South West France is a threat - the insects are native to Eastern Asia but were thought to have been accidentally imported to France in a shipment of pottery in 2004.

Their jaws are strong enough to chew through protective bee clothing and a single sting from the beast can kill because of the neurotoxin it contains.

Lead image: WestEnd61/REX/Shutterstock