Waspish delight for Crowborough couple

A COUPLE from Crowborough could not bee-lieve their eyes when they found a gigantic wasp nest in the roof of their home.

Beryl and Ted Lelliott, of North Beeches Road, were completely stung for words when they found the 40-inch empty nest built around a beam during a spring clean.

Experts said more than 20,000 wasps would have lived in the nest at its peak.

Mr Lelliot, 70, said: "If we'd known they were up there we would have been very scared.

"Being in a confined space in the loft they could have completely surrounded us. It's rather scary isn't it?"

The couple found the nasty nest after going up into the attic for the first time in a long while.

Mrs Lelliott, 68, said: "We had been turning out the loft which we hadn't been up to for a long time.

"We were right at the end of the bungalow over the lounge.

"He kept it as a surprise and just brought it down in a bag. I was shocked because it's so enormous."

The abandoned nest has a 40 inch circumference and is 13.5 inches deep – and is much bigger than the one seen on BBC2 show SpringWatch a few days before the find.

The couple, dedicated fans of the programme, said: "I was shocked at the size of it. It's very light, it's as light as a feather."

The pair think the nest was created last year but say they never heard or saw anything to indicate the hive of activity was going on above their heads as they tuned in to their television.

Their nine-year-old grandson Kieran Millar is a pupil at Herne Junior School and the excited grandparents are going to write to teachers to see if he can take the structure into class to show his friends.

Owner of Hartfield-based Kent and Sussex Pest Control Ian Bennett said it is likely the wasps began to build the nest at the beginning of last year.

He said it would take them between three and four months to complete and they would have deserted the family home by the time winter had come.

They would never return.

Speaking about some of the problems experienced by his customers, Mr Bennett said: "They fly around the local vicinity so if you have got food or are trying to eat outside they can be a potential hazard.

"You could possibly drink them, all sorts of things can happen."

The pest control expert estimated around 20,000 wasps would have been living in the nest at the Lelliott home.

Have you found anything unusual at home? Email us via sussex.reporters@courier.co.uk