Dozens of coastal towns and villages today reported being invaded by millions of ladybirds.

Large swams of the little red beetles - known as coccinellidae - were spotted in coastal communities across Essex and Suffolk.

The recent hot weather is believed to cause a boom in the ladybird population.

Footage shows ladybirds piling on top of each other on a beach at Point Clear, a small village near St Osyth in Essex.

Sightings have also been reported at other locations across southeast England, including Shoebury, Lowestoft, Felixstowe and Clacton.

One St Osyth local said: "There were just millions of them. I was just in shock, really, because I've ever seen that many lady birds all together at once."

"There was loads flying about. One landed on my face, and other ones were landing on my dogs."

"I just noticed they were everywhere, all over the plants and any bits of drift wood or anything on the beach."

"At least it was ladybirds and not earwigs or something!", she added."

The ladybird arrivals come as the UK faces one of its hottest summers on record, with temperatures expected to hit 34C in parts of the country this weekend.

This year has had England's warmest June on record and the UK's second warmest since 1884, according to the Met Office.

Hot summers have triggered ladybird infestations before in the UK.

In 1976, the red beetles infested cities and towns across the country, leading to many reports of insect bites.

According to the British Entomological and Natural History Society, there were over 23 billion ladybirds swarming on the southern and eastern coasts of England that year.

Native red ladybirds in Britain can sometimes be mistaken for the Asian lady beetle, which arrived in Britain in 2004 after being used from the 1980s in the US to control aphid populations.