10,000 bees swarm on Carshalton (From Sutton Guardian)

10,000 bees cause havoc in a quiet Carshalton street

11:52am Monday 14th May 2012 in News By James Pepper

A quiet afternoon in Carshalton was interrupted yesterday by the menacing hum of 10,000 bees.

A gigantic swarm of bees descended on the Carshalton skyline on Sunday like "something from a Hollywood movie", according to one Rochester Road resident.

The unexplained invasion happened at around lunchtime on Sunday (May 13) and it was only this morning that volunteers managed to take the sting out of the situation.

One resident, Steven Bozley, said he came back from Purley to see thousands of bees camped outside his house.

The photography expert said: "It was mental. It was like the film the swarm, there was thousands of them. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

After alerting Sutton Council to the problem, Mr Bozley was told to ring the police.

He said: "I rang the police and they said 'what did the council want them to do, arrest all the bees?'"

Today, volunteers from the Epsom and Ewell Beekeepers Association have been down to the scene to try and collect all the remaining bees.

Melvyn Lavin, a volunteer from Epsom and Ewell Beekeepers, said: "There was not a lot we could do last night when we got here, so we have come back this morning and tried to get the bees into boxes.

"We think we have the queen now because the other bees appeared to have calmed down. At least we hope we have her. We don't know where they have come from, they have just swarmed from somewhere.

"They appear to have settled around a tree, were they were last night, so we will come back later this evening because that will be the best time to get them."

Did you see the swarm?

Did you take any pictures?

Contact jpepper@london.newsquest.co.uk