'We feel like bed bugs are crawling all over us'

People living in a block of flats in Brighton say their homes are "riddled" with bed bugs.

Residents at Kingfisher Court in Albourne Close, Whitehawk, say the parasites are "living within the fabric of the building" and at least four flats have been infested.

Pest controllers hired by Brighton & Hove City Council have been spraying individual flats but residents say the whole building needs to be fumigated to solve the problem.

The council said that since 2022 it has "carried out 11 separate treatments on five different homes in this building and by the end of this week will have carried out another three".

Terri Avery, 32, moved in with her family in April and said she only found out recently about the bed bugs.

"I’m covered in over 100 bites, there’s going to be hundreds in there. We are riddled with them," she said.

"I put clean washing out on my balcony, bring it in and I have to physically shake off the bed bugs."

Mrs Avery said: "There’s only so many you can kill or catch because they move a metre a minute. It’s within the walls, they’re coming through the walls and plug sockets.

"The safest bet would be to get everyone out and fumigate the whole building."

She said fumigating flat by flat was not working and it had been an issue for years.

She added: "I think the council owe everyone an apology, especially us tenants sitting here crying, wondering where we’re going to find the thousands of pounds to replace the furniture we’re throwing away."

Another resident said they had had an infestation as far back as 2020. They said it had been resolved but they still saw “the odd one” in their flat.

One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told BBC Sussex: "You don’t sleep anyway with a young baby but we’ve barely slept. We feel like bugs are crawling all over us all the time.

"The mental impact it has I don’t think anyone understands. They are so difficult to get rid of.

"People have been told they’re in the fabric of the building so they’re going to be almost impossible to get rid of."

Kingfisher Court is one of eight council blocks in Brighton which could be demolished in the future due to structural failings.

Councillor Gill Williams, cabinet member for housing and new homes, said: “We completely appreciate how disruptive bedbugs can be and our sympathies are certainly with the residents who are experiencing infestations in their homes.

“We have recently contacted every home in the building letting residents know what to look out for and who to contact for help and will be doing so again this week.

“We’re doing all we can to remove the bedbugs, but I understand it is a frustrating process for residents.

“I would encourage any tenant to contact us directly if they have any concerns about bedbugs in their home so we can deal with as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

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