Stacey Williams, 34, and her husband and daughters were moved into a council house in Blackwood, South Wales, earlier this year after spending months in temporary accommodation.
Thrilled to be in their new home, Stacey and her husband unpacked their belongings and went to bed – before waking up just two hours later, covered in bedbugs.
Terrified, the couple contacted the Caerphilly County Borough Council first thing the next morning, and were moved to a hostel for a week, before the council found them an alternative property.
However, the damage had been done – the family were forced to throw away thousands of pounds worth of possessions, including souvenirs, books, and photo albums, yet the problem carried on.
The bedbug infestation continued in their new property – and while the council have provided a course of pesticide treatment, the family say it’s not enough, as the bedbugs are resisting the treatment.
Now, Stacey, her husband, and her two daughters, aged 12 and 3, have been forced to sleep on their living room floor to avoid the bugs.
“We were really excited to get the house, and we had a couple glasses of wine to celebrate after unpacking everything,” said Stacey.
“We went to bed, and within two hours, we woke up absolutely covered in bedbugs.
“I’ve never seen so many bugs in my life – they were all over us.
“I had a severe allergic reaction to the bites. My entire body was covered, and the bites turned into blood blisters – it was awful.
“They were all over the bed, the walls, the ceilings. They were inside our bags – they were everywhere.
“We went to the council, and they put us in a hostel for a week until they found the property we’re in now.
“They shouldn’t have moved us into that property before the bedbugs were dealt with.
“Now the bedbugs have followed us to this property.
“We’ve lost everything. Absolutely everything. All my children’s toys, their birth boxes – it’s all gone.
“All of our belongings had to go to landfill, and we were left in the same clothes for four days.
“It’s not just the TV or furniture or anything – there are things that are priceless that we had to get rid of.
“It was things like my newborn’s clothes or gifts that my children have made me, and I couldn’t take any of it with me.”
The council provided three rounds of treatment with pesticides, but Stacey and her family say they haven’t made a difference, and a stronger treatment is required.
Stacey believes that bed bug heat treatment is the solution – a pesticide solution involving using specialised equipment to focus heat on bedbugs and their eggs to destroy them permanently.
Bedbug infestations are notoriously difficult to deal with, often requiring multiple rounds of thorough treatment as the 5mm bugs are easily able to burrow into clothing and furniture.
The Williams family are still dealing with the mental and physical effects of bedbugs and are desperately trying to find a solution.
Stacey’s mental health has been suffering from the stress – she is scared to go outside for fear of spreading the bugs and worries about the effect that the infestation is having on her children.
“As a family, we’re currently all sleeping downstairs in the living room because there are bugs in all the beds,” said Stacey.
“There’s me and my husband, my nearly 12-year-old girl and my 3-year-old girl – and we’re all sleeping on the floorboards.
“We’ve been ringing the council and trying to get them to come and do more treatments.
“We’ve seen lots of bug casings, meaning they’re actually shedding their skin and growing – it’s getting worse.
“We ripped our mattresses apart a few days ago, and there were loads.
“They multiply so quickly, and the council don’t seem to care.
“My two children have started getting bitten – the baby’s had bites all over her face, and my oldest has bites on her legs.
“I don’t think the council realise how much it’s affected our family. We’ve become little hermits.
“They get to go home to nice clean beds, and we’re huddled in our living room to avoid the bugs in our beds.”
