AROUND 20,000 honeybees descended on Bournemouth's seafront.

The swarm gathered over Bournemouth pier on Tuesday before settling on temporary fencing on the east approach in the early afternoon.

Pest control official Nick Wedge said: "They were simply trying to find a new place to nest and not capable of causing harm to the public."

Mr Wedge, along with amateur apiarist Rupert Coutts, were called to the scene by worried pier staff.

Mr Coutts said: "They're not dangerous. They're just looking for a new home and have other things on their mind."

A five-metre area around the nest was cordoned off. Mr Coutts, dressed in protective clothing, said the idea was to get the queen bee into the container he had with him, and then leave the container on site until later in the evening.

He would then take the bees back to his private apiaries.

Honeybees swarming at this time of year are a common occurrence, with Mr Coutts having been called to three swarms yesterday alone.

The honeybees, indigenous to Britain, normally begin to swarm at this time of year, usually in numbers of around 5,000 to 10,000.

The swarm at the pier was nearly double this, and as such was an impressive sight.

Spencer Ellis, a security guard at the nearby Water-front complex, said: "When I saw the swarm coming in from over the pier, I thought it was a load of birds.

"It wasn't until my mate said Have you seen those wasps?' that I realised."

The operation went smoothly for all involved, and the bees started slowly to follow their queen. Mr Coutts went back to his day job as an electrician, leaving the box to be collected on Tuesday evening.