Residents have been left stunned after bushes on their road transformed into a mass of silken webbing.

The strange phenomenon in Mill Court in Ashford is caused by hundreds of hungry caterpillars who have taken over the shrubs to feed and pupate.

Resident Tara Cockell says the sight was drawing crowds to the street, which is close to the Tesco Express off Mace Lane.

She said: "It must have started two or three weeks ago, people have been coming past and taking pictures.

"It's amazing to see, but we contacted the council because we weren't sure what they were.

"We wanted to check the group wasn't going to destroy the bush, or whether or not the caterpillars were poisonous.

"They said they thought that they might be Brown Tail Moths, but weren't sure and couldn't do anything about it because they didn't tend to these bushes."

Owen Leyshon, site manager at the Dungeness National Nature Reserve, told KentOnline the creepy critters appear to be ermine moths.

These moths are known to come together to form a communal web in order to protect themselves and their food while they pupate.

"Those to me look like ermines, although I can't tell the exact species - but they're absolutely harmless.

"They make the web, eat the plant and then pupate, but once they're gone the plant recovers.

"It's perfectly normal for it to never have happened before as well, any number of things can affect where and when they appear including the climate and the weather.

"The moth is on the wing in late June, so the caterpillars will be pupating soon and the moth out in June and then eggs are laid on the foodplant and then over winter or as small larva till the following spring.

"They are harmless and the tent is a form of defence mechanism for the caterpillars from predators like birds, it will all be gone within a month."

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