Bees and wasps have caused as many deaths in the UK as terrorism in the past decade, an independent watchdog has found.
In the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation's annual report, published on Wednesday, it was revealed that, on average, bees and wasps are as big a killer in Britain as acts of terrorism.
Five people per year are killed by bee or wasp stings, the report said, exactly the same amount, on average, of terrorist actions in the past decade.
"During the 21st century, terrorism has been an insignificant cause of mortality in the United Kingdom," the report, lead by David Anderson QC, said.
"The annualised average of five deaths caused by terrorism in England and Wales over this period compares with total accidental deaths in 2010 of 17,201, including 123 cyclists killed in traffic accidents, 102 personnel killed in Afghanistan, 29 people drowned in the bathtub and five killed by stings from hornets, wasps and bees."
The 7 July bombings remain the only serious terrorist event in the UK this century
The vast majority of those deaths were caused by the 7 July 2005 bombings in London, in which 52 people were killed in three separate attacks on tubes and buses in the capital.
The reviewer insists that terrorism is still a threat to the UK. Despite plots, arrests, charges and convictions for terrorist offences declining "markedly" this decade, Mr Anderson believed that the UK is "a constant target" for terrorists, in particular al-Qaeda, but the threat should not be "overstated".
Speaking of his report, Mr Anderson said that: “The threat from both al-Qaida related and Northern Ireland related terrorism is a real one," adding that it is important to keep on top of the best methods of enforcing anti-terrorism law.
The report recommends that the government could further improve terrorism law by letting "peripheral" suspects apply for bail if they do not threaten public safety, as well as suggesting banning fewer organisations.