Hundreds of children at a Hampshire school were forced to take cover after bees swarmed outside their classrooms.

Youngsters were kept behind closed doors when tens of thousands of bees made a beeline for a telephone pole outside Cherbourg Primary School, Eastleigh.

BT and a bee keeper were called in yesterday as Operation Bee swung into action to remove the unwanted school visitors.

A cherry picker was brought in to reach the top of the pole and during an intricate operation, which lasted about four hours, the queen bee and worker bees were collected up and they waited for the rest to follow.

The school has 323 pupils and they were kept in a safe area well away from where the bees were buzzing around.

And a school spokesman said: “All the children were kept in during the delicate operation, but we now need to keep an eye on the few remaining bees to check that they don’t attract another swarm.

“We had this problem last year and with this warm weather they have come back again.

“BT is working closely with us and will return to collect any more if they arrive.

“In the meantime they have used a spongy school ball to seal the top of the pole which we were happy to donate.”