Two Asian hornet nests removed in one night

The Asian hornet nest in St Peter Port before it was removed on Thursday

Two Asian hornet nests were removed from public areas of Guernsey on Thursday night.

South Esplanade in St Peter Port was closed while the island's Asian hornet team worked with Civil Protection volunteers and tree surgeons to remove a large nest from the top of an oak tree.

A nest in Les Villets in the Forest was also treated and there are plans to remove another found in a pine tree near Bulwer Avenue, St Sampson.

The Asian hornet team asked islanders to report any sightings, including a photograph and an observation of its direction of travel, so the team can work to attract the hornets to bait boxes and then on to their nests.

The Asian hornet team with the nest removed from a tree in St Peter Port

The Asian hornet team discovered the St Peter Port nest after receiving reports of sightings in a number of residential gardens in the town during August.

The team then tracked worker hornets back to their nests using strategically placed bait stations.

Francis Russell, invasive non-native species (INNS) policy and coordination officer, said: “By the end of autumn last year, we had removed a total of 14 nests so to have only found three so far is good news."

He said the team aimed to remove all the Asian hornet nests across the island during autumn.