PEST control experts are being inundated with calls from residents under siege by swarms of summer insects.

Bolton's pest control department has been taking as many as 100 calls per day from people facing invasions by flying ants and wasps.

They have been taking to the air as the weather warms up.

Although the number of insects is not believed to be higher than last year, colonies of flying ants are all appearing at once because of the slow start to the summer.

A council spokesman said: "The second we put the phone down it rings again.

"It is difficult to say how many calls we have had about flying ants because we cannot actually send anyone out to deal with them, but we are getting at least 30 or 40 calls a day about wasps.

"The number of calls about wasps is normal for this time of year.

"When the weather turns warmer there's usually an increase in reported cases.

"But anyone worried should contact the pest control department.

"People do panic when they see a swarm of flying ants because they look big and people think they will be there forever.

"But their life cycle means that once they have mated the males will die and the females fly off and start another nest."

After hatching, the ants stay in underground colonies until the weather is hot enough to take to the skies to mate.

Males form large swarms and attract females for mid-air mating sessions.

Favourite nesting spots include cavities underneath paving slabs and ants are responsible for the small heaps of soil or dirt which they push up through gaps.

Pest controllers say the best way to deal with flying ants is to leave the swarms to disperse if they are outside or use household fly spray if the swarm has formed inside a house.

The spokesman added: "Unfortunately, there is no magic cure to get rid of flying ants.

"If they are outside, they should be left alone and will eventually go away.

"If they are inside, we recommend that people use a fly spray to kill them and vacuum the bodies up afterwards."

Anyone with wasps nests or pest problems, other than flying ants, can call the council's pest control department on 01204 336500.