THE streets of Langho were buzzing when a massive wasp flew into the garden of a house in Bushburn Drive.

The huge wasp, more than 1in long, was an unwelcome visitor at the home of Barbara and Michael Bryan.

Barbara, 38, let out a scream when the wasp flew into her garden, where daughter Sarah, six, was playing with cousin Katie,five, and neighbour Michael, 7.

Michael, 41, said: "It flew into the conservatory and Barbara chased it around the house with a rolled up newspaper.

"She eventually whacked it and thought it was dead, but it buzzed a bit and suddenly came to life again. She just freaked out.

"I've never seen anything like it. It was huge. We sprayed it, whacked it and jumped on it, but it just wouldn't die."

Neighbour Steve Bell identified the wasp from the British Book of Natural History as a horntail sawfly, otherwise known as a giant wood wasp.

Michael added: "Steve's book identified the wasp as quite a softy and not at all dangerous. Now it's moping around and looking rather jaded in a jar, but my wife can't wait to get him out of the house."

The giant wood wasp, or urocerus gigas, is a moderately large wasp, black or metallic blue in colour with yellow bandings. It is common to Britain but usually lives in woodland.

The female of the species can measure up to 1.6in long and has a long lance-like appendage that resembles a sting but it is used for laying eggs.