A man was “significantly stung” after he took a flame thrower to a wasp nest in Shaftesbury.

A spokesperson for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service said: “We were called to a property in Cann, Shaftesbury at 6.20pm yesterday evening (September 1) after a man had set fire to a wasp nest.

“One crew from Shaftesbury attended the incident and found a tree stump smouldering on arrival, which was aggravating the wasps further.

“Firefighters extinguished the fire using one hose reel jet – the stop came at 6.39pm.”

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A tweet from DWFireControl confirmed the man had attempted to destroy the nest using a flame thrower.

The tweet said: “Our first incident tonight was Shaftesbury who attended a premises where the occupier had attempted to destroy a wasp nest using a flame thrower. 

“He had not only set the tree alight but also got significantly stung.”