A swarm of at least 10,000 bees has been removed from under the saddle of a bicycle parked outside a metro station in front of the Louvre museum in Paris.

The swarm settled on the bike shortly after it was locked to the railings of the Palais Royal-Musรฉe du Louvre metro on Saturday afternoon.

Paris transport officials then closed the metro entrance while a local Parisian beekeeper was called in to collect the insects.

"It was certainly in an unusual place, right next to the entrance to a metro," said Volkan Tanaci, who reached the scene by bike.

"It was a real cluster of bees, and probably there was a queen bee right in the middle," the urban beekeeper told France Info.

The bike's owner posted the whole scene on the @ma_pauvre_lucette Instagram account, saying that "granddad's old bicycle" had barely been parked for half an hour when the swarm arrived.

The study is part of Wakehurst's Nature Unlocked programme, which aims to improve biodiversity.

Gerry James, a Reigate beekeeper, says he rescues bees from Gatwick "four or five times a year".

Bee inspectors from Kent and Sussex are passing on their skills in tracking the invasive predator.

After the invasive species was found in Northern Ireland last year, entomologists are on high alert.

Residents within a 450m radius of the device were told to leave their homes while it was neutralised.