THOUSANDS of bees swarmed on to white road markings next to the a Kent city landmark on Friday afternoon.

Scores of pedestrians were forced to veer round them to avoid trampling the bees near Canterbury's Westgate Towers.

Delivery driver Dawn Fenton, 30, said: "I couldn’t believe how many there were. They were all just swarming around the floor and buzzing around the people there."

It is thought that the bees split from another colony which can grow rapidly at this time of year.

Traffic was not really affected and beekeepers cleared the swarm away later in the day.