Residents left fuming as council 'guts' infested flat

POLICE and environmental officers had to take "extreme action" to remove two tonnes of rubbish and filthy belongings from an Edinburgh flat in what council bosses have described as "one of the worst cases" of bed bugs ever seen.

The city council's pest control team gained a warrant to enter and fumigate the home of Reginald Cundy and his son, Darren, for public health reasons, following complaints from neighbours.

They found the entire property was infested with the creatures while the walls were covered in marks where they had been squashed. The team also had to dispose of electrical equipment that the bugs had nested in and tore up soiled carpets, leaving the entire flat bare.

The council today insisted the action was an "absolute necessity" to protect public health, but Mr Cundy has slammed the move and said nearly all of his possessions, including pictures of his parents and all of his clothes, had been destroyed.

Neighbours in the 1970s tenement block in Craigmillar Castle Loan said that they had been plagued by bed bugs for around two years.

When environmental health officers, accompanied by police, went to the Cundys' flat, they found clothes and furniture which had "extreme bed bug infestation", which took seven hours to remove.

However, Mr Cundy, 71, a retired steel worker who has lived with his 36-year-old unemployed son in the flat for the last five years, said that the council had removed and destroyed the majority of his possessions.

He said: "They told me if I put everything in polythene bags it would be fine, but we came back on Friday to find everything we owned was gone. They completely gutted my house and they told us it had gone down the tip.

"They took my new underwear, my suits, a laptop. They even took the toilet roll. They also took both our beds and settees."

He added: "They only told us they were coming on Monday and said we had to be out by Thursday.

"I'm not saying we haven't had beg bugs but it's not just our flat."

The council said that they had made Mr Cundy and his son aware of plans to fumigate the property on July 9, had put them up in a bed and breakfast nearby and had replaced both beds and sofas.

A spokeswoman said: "This property was brought to our attention following complaints from neighbours. Upon inspection an extreme bed bug infestation was discovered.

"This was one of the worst cases ever seen by the pest control team.

"This case was so bad that the public health team were brought in and we used our statutory powers under the City of Edinburgh District Council Order Confirmation Act 1991.

"The residents were told about the fumigation and were asked to remove anything of value.

"They were told everything would need to be removed from the flat, including furniture, and that items which could not be treated would be disposed of. Last Thursday, officers entered the property and removed two tonnes of accumulated rubbish before fumigating the property.

"Extreme action, such as taken here, is rare but was an absolute necessity to protect the health of the residents and the residents of neighbouring flats."