‘IT TURNED MY STOMACH TO THINK FLIES IN MY HOUSE CAME FROM DEAD BODY’
Flat became infested with bluebottles
A MAN’S flat became infested with maggots and flies after his neighbour’s dead body lay undiscovered for weeks.
Thomas Matthews’ one-bedroom property became a breeding ground for the insects which had come rom the room above him.
The 64-year-old dad-of-three was unable to eat at home and wore a face mask to bed, before being forced to move out for eight days.
A deep clean was eventually carried out – more than three weeks after Thomas first reported the infestation on September 21.
Thomas, who is unable to work due to having arthritis in both knees, has had to fork out £100 to replace bedding, food and kitchen appliances.
Now Thomas, who lives in Newcastle, says his mental health has been affected and he can’t understand why it took his landlord Sanctuary Housing so long to sort out.
He said: “On September 21 I reported it to Sanctuary Housing that I had got maggots in my bathroom and they said they would send somebody out.
“On September 28 a guy from pest control came and sprayed one corner of the room in the shower. But then I started getting bluebottles. One of my neighbours came to the door and asked if I had seen my neighbour above me as they couldn’t get an answer from him.
“One thing led to another and they found his body, he had been dead for more than three weeks.
“I continued to have bluebottles in my property and I reported it to Sanctuary again. I went to Leighton Hospital one day and when I came home there were about 30 bluebottles over the floor in the kitchen, living room and my bedroom. I had bluebottles every where. They were flying around the flat all the time and maggots were crawling on the carpet.
“Sanctuary told me to just kill them with a spray, but as soon as I killed them, more would come. I was going round spraying them and chucking them away every day.
“I then went to stay with my children for eight days before they cleaned it. I couldn’t stay at home. it just turned my stomach the thought that he bluebottles had come from a dead body.”
A Sanctuary spokesman said: “We employed a specialist contractor to use their expertise at this property and they have carried out several treatments in the two affected flats in the past three weeks.
“We are sorry it took longer than expected and because of this, we did offer to provide Mr Matthews with hotel accommodation when treatments took place in his home if he could not remain with his family.”