A COUPLE living in Teignmouth have hit out at Teign Housing after they claim their flat became ‘inundated with maggots’.

John and Chrissy Wyatt, who live in Bitton Court, have aired their frustration with the housing provider after their flat became infested with flies and maggots.

‘We have been inundated with maggots, they were coming through the ceiling and dropping on our heads’ John, 83, said.

Around a month ago, the occupant in the flat above John and Chrissy died, his body not being discovered until two weeks after that.

The couple were put up in a hotel on the same day that the body was removed - a couple of nights at the Cliffden Hotel and then a couple nights at the Passage House in Newton Abbot.

Upon returning to their flat, John and Chrissy say neither flat has been fumigated properly.

‘I am forever killing Bluebottles, I must have killed 250 by now’ John said.

‘It is a crazy situation, it makes you feel dirty - it is not conducive to good living’ John added.

The couple say that they haven't seen any workmen at the flat, and that they were told the refrigeration unit in the deceased man’s flat was infested.

‘Nobody has done anything, I am in a terrible state’ Chrissy, 77, said.

‘I am not sleeping at night - I do not want to wake up’ Chrissy added.

‘I cannot get a word out of Teign Housing’ John said.

‘Frankly, it seems that they do not want to know’ John added.

But Teign Housing have said the situation was ‘very rare’ and that it has been a ‘complex situation to resolve’.

Director of customers and communities at Teign Housing, Amanda Nicholls, said: ‘We understand the distress Mr and Mrs Wyatt have experienced and are sorry that it’s been a complex situation to resolve.

‘To help make things right, we have provided almost daily support and ongoing repairs and treatment work to resolve the problem at their home.

‘This is a very rare situation. We visit every resident at Bitton Court weekly, monthly or three-monthly, depending which they choose. Sadly, a resident recently passed away. We had offered them a lot of additional support, as had other agencies, but they had only wanted three-monthly visits.

‘Unfortunately, there was perishable food left in their home, and this led to a pest issue which has required ongoing treatment work.

‘Since it was first reported to us, we arranged a hotel for Mr and Mrs Wyatt for six nights free of charge whilst deep specialist treatment and repairs work was completed. Unfortunately, additional treatment has been required and we are grateful to Mr and Mrs Wyatt for updating us and allowing us further access to their home.

‘An additional specialist team attended yesterday (Thursday November 28) and we have a package of further work planned in the coming days to ensure the extensive steps taken have resolved the problem.

‘We continue to be in contact with Mr and Mrs Wyatt, and I visited personally yesterday (Thursday November 28) to say how sorry we are for the problems they’ve had, and to make sure they continue to be happy with how we are resolving this. We will continue to give them daily updates.

‘We want all residents to be able to enjoy their homes and feel comfortable. We are making sure we learn any lessons on how we could have improved this difficult situation.’