Honey 'oozed' through ceiling from hive in Leicestershire home Published duration 24 August 2017

image copyright Ecclesiastical image caption A huge volume of honey oozed through the couple's bathroom ceiling

A gigantic bee hive has been removed from a house after the owners noticed honey "oozing" through from their loft.

Hundreds of bees were found at the grade II listed 18th Century house, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, earlier in August.

The homeowners, who did not want to be identified, found the "sticky substance" near a light fitting.

Heritage insurers Ecclesiastical said its bee expert cut a hole in the ceiling and made the "surprising" find.

image copyright Ecclesiastical image caption Hundreds of bees had built quite an "impressive home" in the loft

A spokeswoman for the company said: "The couple noticed a patch [and] on closer inspection they could see that the substance was sticky and coming through the light fixtures.

"They [also] noticed a lot of bees around the house and at this point sought an expert view.

"The bees expert made a hole in the ceiling and discovered the huge hive."

The company said due to the sheer volume of honey the claim had to be treated in a similar way to water damage, often caused by old pipe work.

image copyright Ecclesiastical image caption The insurers normally deal with water damage claims in older homes

A spokeswoman from the British Beekeepers Association said it was a "well established" colony and had probably been there for a long period of time.

She added that certain bee species "love high up dark spaces".