ANIMAL experts were called in to identify a mystery insect thought to be a deadly Asian giant hornet found in an East Lancashire garage – but it turned out to be harmless.

The two-inch long insect with a long sting flew into All Cars Garage, in Great Harwood on Monday to the surprise of mechanic Colin Frances.

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He threw a sponge at the exotic looking insect and drowned it in a bucket of water after fearing it could be dangerous.

But experts at Blackpool Zoo said he could be forgiven for mistaking it for a deadly Asian giant hornet as it looks very similar to the harmless wood wasp.

Assistant head keeper at Blackpool Zoo John Paul Houston said to an untrained eye, the two species look almost identical at around two to three inches long with a large wingspan and a yellow and black body.

But he added that despite its fearsome looks, the bug was not capable of actually stinging anybody, and said its huge ‘barb’ was instead used for drilling into bark.

He said: “These wood wasps, also known as horntails, are common in the UK and they cannot sting humans.

“The protruding area on their rear, where you would usually find a sting on a wasp, is called an ovipositor and is used for drilling into bark to lay eggs.

“There has been some media coverage about Asian giant hornets heading for the UK but there hasn’t been a single proven sighting.”

The scare came as a crack team of bug experts travelled to France from Britain to learn how to kill Asian hornets.

These have been held responsible for several deaths across Europe and are a deadly predator to the under-threat honey bee.

The government has described the two-inch-long winged terrors as a ‘significant threat to human health’ and is preparing contingency plans in case they arrive in the UK.

As many as 1,000 reports have been received in recent years.

However, none of these have been substantiated, a report released this week revealed.