Hornet's nest thought to be one of the largest ever found in UK discovered near Southampton Common

Beekeepers have removed what is thought to be one of the largest Asian Hornet nests in the country from Southampton Common.

Alan Baxter was among volunteers who responded to the nest, which was discovered after an image of a hornet was uploaded to the Asian Hornet Watch app.

The insects, which are highly invasive and dangerous to local creatures, were eventually tracked to The Old Cemetery on Tuesday.

They were then trapped and killed, and the nest was eventually removed following a monumental effort.

When inspected, The National Bee unit found the nest was around 75cm in size, and investigations as to its origin are ongoing.

Asian Hornets can sting multiple times, and are described as 'Apex predators'.

They currently do not have native populations in the UK, with nests usually imported from countries such as China.

However, there are grave concerns that the insects will get a foothold in the country, especially in Southern England, and members of the public are being urged to report all sightings.

Watch: Alan Baxter tells ITV Meridian about the nest.

"The bee inspectors worked over the weekend locating the nest", Alan Baxter told ITV Meridian. "They found it in the old cemetery in Southampton.

"On Monday morning a team including me as the coordinator went to the site to remove the nest. The weather was terrible. Uh, it was pouring with rain. It was just too, too, too dangerous to work."

"The nest was very high in a tree at about 17 meters from the ground. Surrounded by very dense undergrowth and ivy growing up all the, all the way up the trunk of the tree.

"The ground was littered with old gravestones and tombs and things like that. So it was impossible to, to get a cherry picker in.

"So we had to use tree climbers to climb up the tree to do it. It took them several hours to cut away through the undergrowth and up into the tree. To a point where they could safely use a lance to inject poison into the nest.

"So they gave it two doses of poison and then retreated for about an hour to allow the poison to work and for it to catch any returning foragers or any stragglers back to the nest.

"Then we went back, and they had to cut a, a further passage up the tree until they could become level with the nest. Then they cut off the branch that the nest was around, put it in a bag and lowered it to the ground.

"Then a further spray of insecticide was required just to kill off any remaining insects. And when they were all dead, we were able to take it out."

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