looks like a Hymenopteran - bees or wasps - but I would need a closer look!

Looks a bit like a Robber Fly, but those very are good flyers.
(probably that would be a good place to start in a decent text book tho')
Hard for me to ident though, I know the UK bugs quite well,
but not yours.

i agree that it looks like a wasp of some kind

It looks like a soldier fly. Go to this site: www.dpughphoto.com/flies.htm to read about them a bit.

t's really hard to tell from this photo, but this looks like a wasp. From what I can see, the thorax and abdomen have a narrow separation characteristic of a wasp. The eyes and head however appear more flylike. There are some flies that mimic wasps. The antennae lead me to believe this is a true wasp rather than a fly that mimics a wasp. One sure way to tell is to look at it's face and see if it has a sucking mouth or a chewing mouth. A wasp will not have a sucking mouth. Can you upload some more pictures? preferably with one wing extended so we can see the structure of the wing as well as the abdomen pattern?