Skip to content

Mystery of village plagued by swarms of flies

LDRS Loads of flies stuck to traps in a houseLDRS
Bettws residents say thousands of flies have been swarming their homes for months

Thousands of flies have "inundated" a village, leaving people unable to open their windows.

Villagers in Bettws, Bridgend county, said they had no idea where the flies are coming from and the council is equally stumped.

Hayley Laaser, 42, said: "We’ve tried nets, sticky strips and even keeping the doors and windows closed but nothing seems to work."

Bridgend council said its environmental health officers were "visiting locations across Bridgend county borough to determine what may be the cause".

Ms Laaser, who has lived in Bettws her whole life, said: "There are just so many here to the point where it’s embarrassing to have people in our homes and we don’t know what to do."

She said there were "literally thousands of them", adding: "Sometimes people think we’re exaggerating but you have to see it to believe it.

"You can’t open a window or a door without them pouring in and you can’t even prepare a meal in the house as the flies will be crawling all over it."

Louisa Holland flies in a potLouisa Holland
The issue of house flies in Bettws is "10 times worse" this year, residents say

Geraldine Hooper lives on one of the worse affected streets and is having to change her fly papers ever other day - sourcing them from the internet - because local shops have all sold out.

"It’s terrible, you don’t want to eat in the kitchen" she said.

Ms Hooper suffers from a progressive lung condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which limits airflow to her lungs, so she has to be careful what sprays she uses.

"You are going to bed worrying about getting up in the morning and what it’s going to be like." she added.

BBC News Picture of Geraldine Hooper holding up her fly papers covered in flies BBC News
Geraldine Hooper says the flies make her want to avoid the kitchen

Melanie Simons, who runs the Oddfellows Arms in Bettws, said the problem was also affecting her business.

She said: "We’ve been unable to put food out in the pub over the last few days due to the amount of flies crawling all over it and even things like feeding the dog become difficult because they are there within moments."

Another resident, Sarah Dawe, added: "We’re absolutely inundated with flies and it is becoming unbearable. You can’t cook or eat food or even open the windows.

"To be honest it’s horrific and I’ve never seen anything like it in my life."