AREAS of Stoneclough, Farnworth, Kearsley and Halliwell looked like something from a "B" movie after millions of flying ants landed.
Bolton's Environmental Health Department was inundated with calls from residents concerned about the invasion.
Eye-witnesses said cars and pavements were covered yesterday as clouds of ants landed.
Mr Stuart Cartwright, of Ruskin Avenue, Kearsley, said the ants were about a centimetre long.
A spokesman from Bolton's pest control unit said that the movement of the ants was just "nature taking its course."
He said: "When the weather conditions are right ants grow wings and fly. There can be millions in a swarm. "They are moving to new nesting sites."
He stressed that the ants were not dangerous - just a nuisance.
"We can't stop them flying, we can just stop them nesting," the spokesman added.
He said the phenomenon usually lasts just a few weeks each year depending on weather conditions.
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