States remove basketball-sized Asian hornet nest

The nest was found in a tree at Elizabeth College in St Peter Port

A basketball-sized Asian hornet nest has been removed from the grounds of a college in Guernsey.

The States said the secondary nest was treated and removed by the Asian hornet team from a turkey oak tree on the grounds of Elizabeth College on Thursday.

The hornets were first detected in the College pollinator patch and then tracked down from a bait station set up in the Brother's Cemetery.

College Road was closed for one hour to allow the removal of the nest which was 16m (40ft) high in the tree.

Francis Russell, invasive non-native species policy and coordination officer, said the nest was discovered in good time ahead of the school year.

He said: "It is always more complicated having to track hornets in a built-up area and dealing with nests in town requires a lot more planning to ensure public safety.

"After receiving a number of reports and seeing photographs of hornets hovering over pints of beer at the Swan Inn and at The Terraces restaurant, we knew we were looking for a nest in town."

The team said it had also discovered a second nest in town near La Gibauderie which it was working on to "remove as soon as possible".

Nests are also being tracked in St Andrews around Bailiffs Cross, in Castel, off Rouette de la Tour and in the Vale off Rue de Marais.