Invasion of the flies (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Invasion of the flies

Shopkeeper Richard Butt shows a flypaper and the number of insects caught in a couple of hours (17598)AN INVASION of flies is plaguing three villages, with thousands of insects swarming into homes, shops and garages.

Reports of ceilings black with houseflies and piles of dead insects in Bratton, Edington and Steeple Ashton, have prompted an unprecedented level of complaints to environmental health officers.

Resident Caroline Mason, 34, of The Elms, Bratton, said she was the 76th person to contact West Wiltshire District Council after waking up one morning covered in flies.

She said: "It is like something right out of the Bible. They are like a plague in the middle of the day.

"They are everywhere. To be perfectly honest apart from anything else, we are constantly swatting them off our bodies.

"We don't even dare make a sandwich you can't keep them off in order to butter the bread.

"The villages have been swarming with them. The corner shop has been bringing in stuff to cope with the flies and it is selling out within minutes."

Environmental health officers said this was an extremely unusual case and confirmed they had received an "unprecedented number" of calls from such a small area.

Spokesman Louise Knox said: "It's extremely unusual to happen in so many houses. There is an element of uncharted territory here. We are on the case but need to find out the cause of the problem to know what the solution is."

Many residents believe the cause of the invasion stems from manure recently spread on nearby fields.

David Perkins, 56, of Westbury Road, Edington, said: "The problem started after the Edington Music Festival two weeks ago when the farmers were spreading manure. Since then the place has been inundated with flies.

"It's absolutely disgusting but it's the same in every house. You open a window to let in fresh air and they fly in."

Vice-chairman of Edington Parish Council George Fraser, 65, of Greatwoods, said he believed the flies had come from larvae, which had hatched out in the manure when it was left on top of the soil.

But farmer Peter Gale, who owns Fitzroy Farm, on the outskirts of Bratton, said he did not think the muck-spreading would have caused such an influx.

"There was a rumour that it was human manure but it's poultry manure I use. There are quite a few flies around this year but there is a lack of wasps and apparently they keep the flies down.

"I'm in Yorkshire at the moment and I wasn't aware of the problem. I did the work after the music festival. It was uncovered but was in the ground within four or five days."

An environmental health officer has seen the problem firsthand and the department hopes to have identified the source by next week. In the meantime residents are battling against the invasion with flypaper and sprays.

Richard Butt, who runs Hillworth Stores, in Bratton, said the shop was beginning to run out of fly killers.

His shop is littered with flies and he has temporarily closed down his bakery because he cannot cook without them buzzing around the food.

"There are millions of them. They're coming in through the door. I've counted 18 on just one small light fitting and had them crawling up my arm," he said.

"We've been swatting a lot of them and now have to a clean-up operation to get rid of all the dead ones."

The environmental health department has asked anyone who may have a problem with the flies to contact them on (01225) 770358.