A dog walker has spoken of the moment a swarm of wasps attacked her and her pet.

Lynsey Hayes, of Coats Avenue, Sheerness, was walking with her disabled son Darragh, 12, and their dog Bobo along the canal bank near St George’s Avenue.

The drama began when Bobo, a 20-month-old shih-tzu bichon frise cross, was running and started barking continuously.

As Mrs Hayes approached her pet, she noticed a large wasp nest and she could see Bobo was being stung. But when she ran over to pick him up, the 42-year-old housewife was also stung.

She said: “The nest was located on the left-hand side of the canal bank pathway, about 100 metres away from the Edenbridge Drive park.

“As I got closer to Bobo, I noticed there were thousands of wasps. I grabbed Bobo and we were both stung a number of times – he got the brunt of it.

“I have been stung on the top of my legs and behind my knees and it’s all very swollen, and Bobo must have been stung at least 20 times.

“I have been stung on the top of my legs and behind my knees and it’s all very swollen, and Bobo must have been stung at least 20 times" - Lynsey Hayes

“The wasps were stuck to him.”

Mrs Hayes said she was told by her vet to keep an eye on Bobo in case his breathing changed following the incident, which happened at about 12.30pm.

She added: “Darragh, who has cerebral palsy, was on his disabled bike and all I kept doing was shouting out to him to keep pedalling.

“As we ran away from the nest, the wasps seemed to follow us.

“How Darragh didn’t get stung I don’t know. If it wasn’t for Bobo taking the brunt of the wasps coming towards us, we both could have been seriously ill.”

Mrs Hayes says pest control officers need to be sent. “If this had happened to a really small dog, a child or someone who was allergic to wasp stings, I’d dread to think what would have happened,” she said.

A Swale council spokesman said: “Now this has been brought to our attention, the pest control service has been informed and will deal with it as soon as possible.”