Thousands of honey bees caused a buzz in Strawberry Hill on Tuesday as they swarmed on to this car.

Christina Bellido-Perez, who lives in Tower Road, said she was absolutely shocked when she found the swarm on her Toyota at about noon.

According to Twickenham and Thames Valley’s swarm coordinator, Warwick Francis, the bees were taking part in a reproduction ritual that sees a colony split in two with a second queen and look for a new home.

Ms Bellido-Perez said: "I have never seen anything like that, it was incredible. It was like a whole carpet of bees stuck on the back of my car.

"I was so shocked but it was very exciting, the cars were driving past and people were slowing down just to have a look and taking pictures."

Ms Bellido-Perez said, as luck would have it, somebody drove past the swarm who happened to know a bee specialist, so she got in touch and an expert arrived within half an hour.

She said: "He just pulled them off just like you would unstick a carpet and put them in a box, which the police helped us put cones around."

Mr Francis said the sight of thousands of bees on a car could be alarming, it was actually a time when the insects were at their least dangerous.

He said: "That is the protocol we would like people to use; firstly not to panic and second to call a beekeeper."

Mr Francis said a swarm occurred when a colony decides to raise a new queen, and they will normally hang in a tree while some bees fly off to scout for a permanent home. The scout bees return to the swarm when they have found somewhere suitable and if the bees agree they fly off with the queen to their new home.

He said: "Landing on the back of a car though is very unusual. Some people actually say it can be good luck.

"No one knows why they would land on a car but it does happen, and people have sometimes found their bikes covered in bees.

"It is best to get them before they move into someone’s house."