A Turkish bee which government officials ordered to be killed after it accompanied a family home from holiday has "escaped".

The rare osmia avosetta variety had been living in and around the Toy family home in Bristol since their return from Dalaman last week, constructing intricate cocoons out of flower petals.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had announced it intended to capture and destroy the insect because of the potential risk it poses to native species.

However, the family revealed on Tuesday that the bee has taken flight.

It had previously been scavenging for nest materials in and around the Toy garden and leaving the cocoons in the conservatory.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), part of Defra, is planning to pick up four remaining cocoons from the Toys on Wednesday for DNA testing.

It follows a debate between experts as to whether the foreign species - first discovered only ten years ago - really poses a threat.

Amelia Toy, 19, said: “They [APHA] actually advised us to kill it.

“They advised my mum to capture it and freeze it.

“But then it didn’t appear, so we weren’t able to capture the bee.”

The British Beekeepers Association warned on Monday that the osmia avosetta could devastate already imperiled native populations either through spreading deadly viruses or by breeding and eventually out-competing other bees.