Angry wasps attack schoolchildren (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Angry wasps attack schoolchildren

A GROUP of schoolchildren and a teacher were rushed to hospital this week after being attacked by thousands of angry wasps.

Twenty-five Kingshill School pupils needed treatment for stings last Thursday when reckless teenagers disturbed an enormous wasps' nest.

And three pupils needed emergency attention after suffering a severe reaction to the dangerous insects.

The incident happened at around 8.40am as pupils were walking to school.

Hannah Coffey, 13, who lives in Victoria Road, told the Standard how she got caught up in the attack.

She said: "It was just before registration. The nest was at the top of the field by the track near the Beeches estate.

"A few of the older people in the school knew about it the night before. "Somebody found it that morning and was messing around with it - I think there were a few people throwing things at it and kicking it."

Hannah described how she and her friends went to the aid of a younger girl who was lying on the floor surrounded by the wasps.

She said: "We went to help her but more came towards us.

"I am not sure how many times I was stung but it was all around my head and in my hair. It was quite painful and a few people were very unwell - I think they went into anaphylactic shock.

"The wasps were very annoyed - a lot of us tried to stand still but they just carried on attacking, and several teachers did get stung."

Kingshill's playing field was closed off after the incident and pest control was called in to take care of the situation.

Most of the pupils were treated at Cirencester Hospital, but three children were also taken to Great Western Hospital (GWH) in Swindon.

Dr Collette Frittelli treated most of the pupils at Cirencester for stings to their hands, arms and heads.

She said: "We had 22 school children admitted, they were all aged between 12 and 15 and were very anxious and quite traumatised.

"We admitted one boy for observation but he later went home."

A GWH spokesman also confirmed it had treated a small number of children, but made it clear that it is not usual practice for victims of wasp stings to go to hospital.

Headteacher Christine Oates said: "The nest was on the school field close to the path many pupils use when arriving in school. It was accidentally disturbed.

"All our pupils are now safe and the nest has been removed from the school site.

"The pest control people arrived within half an hour and I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone involved for their calm and efficient response."

o THE swarm that attacked pupils at Kingshill could have contained more than two thousand wasps according to one pest control expert.

Youngsters caught up in the incident would not have been able to escape the stings because the insects spray anyone disturbing them with an invisible marker signalling them out as a predator.

Ian Rider, who runs Terminator Pest Control in Cirencester, explained how wasps use a special pheromone to identify their victims.

He said: "They will sting the first person they see."

Ian also said the nest which was disturbed could have been as big as football, warning: "They can be very nasty at this time of year, especially when they are disturbed.

"Wasps appear to be dying a lot later in the year due to global warming."