Residents at Shenzhen's Huawu alley woke to a live nightmare of hundreds of potentially deadly scorpions creeping all over their walls, floors and mosquito nets at 2:30 am on Thursday, chinanews.com reported.

About 20 grams of scorpions were collected after the disturbance, with the biggest ones being more than 10 centimeters long. But some were still hiding in corners and cracks in the walls. The scorpions are suspected of being deadly, the report said.

A resident said he saw a young man sneaking into the alley with a barrel and scattering the contents out at doorways and windowsills.

The alley was undergoing a demolition and some homeowners were having disputes with the developers over compensation.

The police have been sent to investigate.