A swarm of bees were discovered outside the Shires shopping centre in Trowbridge yesterday (July 9.)

Jamie Hallett, director of ASW Pest Control Specialists Ltd, was enlisted to safely remove the insects.

Called at 11am, he raced to the scene in less than 20 minutes.

He donned a beekeepers suit and scaled a ladder to approach the "sleepy" group of bees.

Then came the lengthy process where he gently scooped a handful at a time and searched for the Queen bee.

Jamie said: "I was trying to find the Queen among the huge number of bees, it was probably two inches deep.

"I found her at one point, but she dove down under the others, who were protecting her. All I could do was grab handfuls and go through them, slowly and surely trying to find her.

"There's no point taking the swarm without the queen because they won't survive."

The bees are now safely housed within beehives owned by Jamie's father in law, Derek Strawson, who started ASW Pest Control Specialists Ltd in 1995.

The company initially was based in Chippenham, before moving to the West of the county. It now covers the Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire area.

Jamie added: "It's not crazy common for us to get a job like this because you get a lot of beekeepers locally with their own hives who can remove swarms.

"But we have a contract with the Shires and because it was at height, we were able to use ladders and safely reach them.

"The worry was that if the bees found a cavity and found a way into the roof or tiles, that would have been a whole different ball game and you would have needed to take the building apart."