Incredible footage shows a 'biblical' swarm of 'hornets' circling an industrial estate opposite London Southend Airport.
Ryan Jarvis, 25, who works in sales in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, recorded the surge of deadly insects from his office window yesterday.
His shocking video shows helpless workers penned in as thousands of hornets fly around a car park - with it believed a large nest had been disturbed nearby.
Ryan Jarvis, 25, who works in sales in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, recorded the surge of deadly insects from his office window yesterday
One of the onlookers claimed in the clip: 'If you walked out, you could die getting stung that many times.'
Mr Jarvis, who lives in Wickford, told MailOnline today: ‘There was a swarm of thousands of them that were hovering outside in the air.
‘They went in a bush opposite the entrance to our office. We couldn't get outside at lunchtime.
His shocking video shows helpless workers penned in as thousands of hornets fly around a car park - with it believed a large nest had been disturbed nearby
One of the onlookers claimed in the clip: 'If you walked out, you could die getting stung that many times'
'It was all at once, it was quite Biblical.’
He added he was surprised at the invasion because he works on an industrial estate opposite London Southend Airport - which is mostly concrete.
Mr Jarvis said: ‘There's no greenery around here at all. There's one bush with yellow flowers. It's a trading estate, it's all concrete.
‘They got in there about lunchtime, but by the following lunchtime around 11am a couple came up and all of them flew out in formation.’
He said he eventually got a closer look at them and did not think they looked like bees and wasps – instead believing they were hornets.
The swarm eventually died down and Mr Jarvis and his colleagues were able to make a run for their cars and drive home at 7pm.
It comes as Britain faces an invasion of swarms of deadly Asian hornets that can kill with just one sting.
Fears are mounting the killer insects could be on its way to the UK after large numbers were spotted on Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Experts have said the recent wet weather could send numbers spiralling as the conditions provide the perfect breeding ground for the species.
The latest forecast has sparked fears the UK could set to be invaded by Asian hornets (pictured) as the wet weather provides the perfect breeding conditions for the black and yellow striped insects
If a sting victim is allergic to the venom, they could go into anaphylactic shock and die within minutes.
Alastair Christie, the Channel Island's Asian hornet co-ordinator, said 13 'active nests' have been destroyed already, compared to just 12 nests in the whole of last year.
Last year there were nine confirmed sightings of Asian hornets - an individual hornet in Lancashire, Hull, three in Cornwall, two in Hampshire, one in Surrey.
The most recent sighting was in Kent in October.
Last year there were nine confirmed sightings of Asian hornets (pictured) in the UK
They arrived in mainland Europe in 2014 after sneaking into France in a shipment of pottery from China - and have been blamed for the deaths of at least five people.
The insects have spread rapidly, and the latest figures from the Channel Islands indicate they now pose a major and increasing threat to the UK.
The explosion in numbers is shown that the first sighting was just three years ago when one was confirmed in Gloucestershire, and a second sighting was confirmed in 2017 in North Devon.
They are also a threat to wildlife with each one capable of killing and eating up to 50 honey bees a day.
They can destroy a hive of 30,000 honey bees within hours, says a special task force for Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
An Asian hornet eating a hoverfly. They are also a threat to wildlife with each one capable of killing and eating up to 50 honey bees a day
Terrifyingly, their jaws are strong enough to pierce the protective clothing that beekeepers wear.
More fearsome than our native species, they are native to temperate and tropical Eastern Asia.
A National Bee Unit spokesman said 'If you suspect
