The wasps are believed to have honed in on the hearing aid

It is believed the insects could have been attracted by his hearing aid.

Ron Packer, 82, was pruning in his garden in Stroud when he disturbed a wasps' nest and was stung on his hands.

He moved away but a swarm came at him and clustered around his hearing aid, stinging him eight times.

He said: "They stung me at the front and back of my hearing aid area and really homed in on it.

"I was badly stung and was left with a boxer's cauliflower ear. I couldn't wear the hearing aid for a few days or sleep on that side."

Hearing aid users shouldn't worry too much about this Duncan Collett-Fenson Association of Independent Hearing Healthcare Professionals

Mr Packer said it was lucky he was "pretty agile" and could get away from the insects.

He has had the NHS hearing aid for 30 years and said it was very powerful.

Duncan Collett-Fenson, from the Association of Independent Hearing Healthcare Professionals, added: "There could be a connection. If Mr Packer's hearing aid had worked its way loose during his gardening then it could have been prone to feedback.

"That would have made a very high-pitched whistling or buzzing sound that the wasps could have picked up on."

But he added: "Hearing aid users shouldn't worry too much about this."