Calls seeking help to eradicate wasps up 300%

THERE has been a 300% increase in calls for help in eradicating wasps in the last 10 years, says a leading pest control specialist.

Rentokil has urged people to beware of wasps after two elderly people in Britain died this week after being stung by the insects.

The company’s technical manager, Dr Colm Moore, reckons that between five and 12 people die in Britain and Ireland every year after being stung by a wasp.

“It is really bad luck what happened to the people in Britain. But it could happen here too — it is really a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Dr Moore.

“There can be a wasps’ nest in an area and people are just unaware of it. They do something that aggravates them or get too close to the nest and it can end in tragedy.”

Last Sunday in Essex an elderly woman died after being attacked by hundreds of wasps whose nest was prodded by a gardener.

Jeanette Duncan, 70, was walking with her husband George, 74, when the swarm swooped and repeatedly stung them. The woman suffered a heart attack and died in hospital shortly afterwards.

In another incident, butcher Alan Foster, 72, collapsed and died after being stung by a wasp in his shop in Walsall, West Midlands, last Saturday. He is thought to have suffered a fatal allergic reaction.

Dr Moore said wasps had become extremely bothersome in Ireland with the increase in temperature over the summer months.

“I would not try and tackle a nest without taking precautions. Wasps will defend the nest and once you are chemically marked, all the other wasps will come out and attack you,” he said.