SHOPPERS in a town centre were confronted by a swarm of flying ants on Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a large swarm of black insects in Crown Street, Darlington.

A spokeswoman for Darlington Borough Council confirmed environmental health officers had received reports of flying ants, but said there was no cause for alarm.

She said: "Generally, ants do not fly, they are crawling insects, but in some instances, there are flying ants.

"They pose no hazard to the public - they are harmless.

"In particular weather conditions, they all come out at once, like they did this week when it was hot and sticky, but they usually disperse within three or four hours.

"The environmental department here deals with most instances by giving people advice over the telephone. You can use a flying insect killer spray on them, which sees them off.

"There is no major problem in Darlington, and when the weather conditions prevail, they are borough-wide and not specific to one particular area."