Mammoth wasps' nest uncovered in Newbury

Shane Jones made the extraordinary find, which contained around 10,000 wasps

A PEST controller who filmed the moment he uncovered a gigantic wasp nest at a house in Newbury has gone viral.

Shane Jones from RIDTEK Pest Control discovered the monster nest – which was two to three feet in size – in a garage cupboard last week.

The 49-year-old pest expert was alerted to the nest after the resident opened the cupboard, which had remained shut for some time.

The owner reportedly “screamed and ran” before picking up the phone to call RIDTEK – an independent family owned pest control business which Mr Jones has been running for five years.

Mr Jones, who relocated to Basingstoke from his native Australia, said he decided to film the huge nest as he didn’t want to miss out on such an extraordinary find.

He said: “Last year we found a pretty big one in a loft in Tadley, but we didn’t take a video of it.

“You don’t come across these often.

“We deal with so many wasps nests every day, but we never really know what we’re going to find - it was a good one.”

Mr Jones said this summer’s hot weather has led to more queen wasps surviving in hibernation for longer, which has resulted in larger nests.

“All pest controllers are having a fantastic wasp season – it’s a really big thing for us.

“This year, we are having an exceptional summer – which means there are a lot of other insects for wasps to eat.

“The whole point is that the queen wasp stays a lot longer in hibernation.”

Mr Jones, who used to work as a tour guide for crocodile and snake cruises in North Queensland, followed the normal procedure in discarding the wasp nests – by simply incinerating it.

“A wasp nest is rather fragile – it looks like they’re made from paper,” he said.

“If you touch them, they kind of crumble and collapse.”

Mr Jones said that had the nest not been found, it would have grown to a certain point before it dies.

The nest was successfully removed from the cupboard and the insects released safely.

Photo and video supplied by Shane Jones