A Bristol tenant who claims her flat was infested with rats now says "hundreds and thousands" of 'blue bottle' flies have swarmed both her own and neighbouring homes.
The woman, who wishes to simply be known as Caroline, captured video footage of a vast amount of flies in her neighbour's window and shared it social media. In the tweet, she tagged water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions company Ecolab, as well as Sovereign Housing - the association responsible for her block of flats.
Caroline's tweet read: "Rat issue still plaguing us in Sovereign properties. Sovereign response. They cannot do anything as it's a leasehold property. Really? They are in bedroom and lounge windows only. Is this too may for dead rats? We haven't seen owner for two years."
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Sovereign said in a statement that Caroline's neighbour has been confirmed to be safe and well following a welfare check. The company will be visiting the property today with Environmental Health to investigate the cause of the flies.
Caroline explained to Bristol Live how she had returned home at 11am on the morning of March 14 to find what she describes as "hundreds and thousands of huge blue bottle flies" inside her neighbours flat window, "all trying to get out". She believed she probably hadn't noticed it sooner because the weather hadn't been warm or sunny before that day.
She added: "I knew something was dead in that flat and I have also not seen the owner for two years. I alerted Sovereign but got the standard email reply back that they have two weeks to even read the email.
"I have been woken at night by these huge horrible big flies in my bedroom lounge upstairs. There are three of us living in a two bedroom flat and I sleep in the lounge where I have made a little room for myself at the end.
"They frighten me because I don't want them anywhere near me or my children. We just don't seem to be getting any better and the stress of being ill and the constant cleaning, hoovering and washing is so exhausting.
"The children cannot attend school due to being so unwell and I'd personally like to thank Bristol Cathedral and Bristol Cathedral Choir School for their wonderful safeguarding advocates for contacting Sovereign Housing early this week as Sovereign had said it was a lease holder issue and they couldn't get involved."
Back in January, Bristol Live reported on how terrified Caroline had been after discovering rats in her flat - and how she had even resorted to cooking on her balcony to avoid attracting them. At the time, Caroline told Bristol Live that upon reporting it to the housing association, she was told they could find no evidence of rats.
She said: "I think it's pretty disgusting to say that's the end of it for us because there is no evidence, and yet you've got somebody who's living here saying, 'but they are in my ceiling'." She later bought an endoscope camera and poked it through a hole in her ceiling and eventually captured on of the rats on video.
At the time, Sovereign said they wanted "all customers to feel safe and secure in their homes which is why we've arranged a number of visits from pest control firms to our shared ownership properties on Hotwell Road.
"Until very recently, we had not been provided with the video footage which could show where the rats are getting into the building, and we’re hopeful that this will help nail down the point of entry.
"We’ve been working closely with an officer from Bristol Environmental Health to resolve the issue, putting bait down around the scheme, since this was reported to us in November 2021.
"We are also scheduling an independent appointment with a second pest control agency, which is due to take place as soon as possible."
After Bristol Live's report, Caroline said "there seemed to be some action on Sovereign's part especially after Environmental Health also stepped in to help me in my plight to prove I was plagued with rats."
She also described how Sovereign allowed Ecolab to have three visits but said: "You can't treat pest control effectively in three visits."
Caroline said she was very impressed with "the strategic manner" in which Ecolab dealt with, listened and planned returned visits. However she says she knew that, at some point, the question would be 'where have the rats gone now'.
With her latest infestation of flies, Caroline has sent her recent footage to Environmental Health, too, who she says has "picked this up and acted without delay". She believes that they are running their own set of investigations, while also liaising with an assessor from Ecolab, too,
Caroline added: "I am left hoping, each time something big happens, that Sovereign would learn from their systems not working and that they would put effective measures in place to deal with something as important as health.
"Sovereign knew that the drains needed to be surveyed by Ecolab and rat guards fitted but they just didn't answer Ecolab. I pay a lot of money to Sovereign as we all do each month, which has risen from £35 per month six years ago, to £166 a month.
"We have no gardens, no lifts, no gated entry. They did review it all on their own and it's been adjusted to £96 a month now but it's still a huge hike with no facilities from the £35.
"I expect their policies to be better for the size of the organisation they are. I find myself doing their whole jobs for them. I completely revamped the operation of the bin store myself to make things better for everyone here.
"Now Bristol Waste say it's the best bin store for flats in the city. It was a case of liaising with Bristol Waste to have more places for people to recycle - nothing would have gotten done if Sovereign had been left to do it.
"I feel I have a full time unpaid role living here on top of raising two children by myself and working myself too. I own my own flat and am not in benefits. I really do work incredibly hard and both myself and my children deserve a break."
Response from Sovereign Housing
Eleanor Lowman, regional home ownership manager at Sovereign, said: “We’d like to thank Caroline for expressing concern for her neighbour who we’re pleased to confirm is safe and well.
“We’ll be visiting the property tomorrow (Tuesday) with Environmental Health to investigate the cause of the flies and to seek a resolution.
“We’d always urge residents with concerns about the welfare of a neighbour to check on them, report it to us or ask the Police to do a welfare check.”
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