A Northfleet man has been left terrified after battling with a killer hornet.

James Roberts, 35, of Waterdales, squared up to and killed a two-inch Asian hornet, which made headlines in France last year after six people died from anaphylactic shock.

If the giant bugs' 6mm venomous stinger isn’t frightening enough, its deep droning buzz is.

News Shopper:
The giant bug has a 6mm venomous stinger

Speaking to News Shopper, Mr Roberts said: “I am shocked.

“I feel terrified of them still, I am nervous and looking around when ever I go out.

“If I hear or see a fly I shudder, I’m thinking, when is the next one going to creep up on me?”

Mr Roberts heard the hornet before he saw it and in a moment of fight or flight chose the former.

He said: “It had a very loud buzz, I sat and froze, then I thought I cannot sit here and let this get the better of me.

“Basically I watched it for a while, I calmly picked up the nearest heaviest most manoeuvrable thing I could find, and zapped it.

“It fell from behind the net curtain into the sink.

“I stood there looking at it, studying it for another two minutes before deciding to grab the camera.

“I was so shocked as the media coverage is so recent - it means no one can even use their gardens this summer.”

It is believed that the Asian hornet inadvertently arrived in France from China in pots twelve years ago and has since spread to other countries on the continent including Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Portugal.

News Shopper: James Roberts, 35, of Waterdales killed the deadly hornet at his home

It’s bad news for European honey bees as well who have no innate defense against the hornets that can rapidly destroy their colonies.

The government body in charge, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), has confirmed that there have been no official sightings in Britain.

Unofficial sightings of the Asian hornets have been made in Kent, Surrey, Devon and Sussex and the fear is that the flying hornets are making a beeline to the UK.