‘I woke up to cockroaches crawling all over me – I can’t sleep in my bed or cook in my kitchen’

A Birmingham council tenant woke to cockroaches ‘crawling all over her’ in her bed – and feared she would be spending Christmas with the pests. Great Barr resident Karen Barrett said her flat was ‘overrun’ with the insects from kitchen to bedroom.

She said the cockroaches were stopping her sleeping or cooking and left her reliant on takeaway meals and having to avoid her infested bed . Grim images from inside her flat showed multiple crushed insects on her kitchen floor, and a live cockroach in a jar on her bed.

The 65-year-old said: “I tried to lie down last night for an hour, and I woke up in the night and they were crawling all over me. I haven’t got anywhere to sleep, I’m in a little tiny flat and I’ve got a two seater settee.”

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The tenant, who suffers from bronchitis and fibromyalgia, added: “I’m in chronic pain, I don’t need this stress. I can’t have the heating on because it brings them out. I haven’t been to bed for three or four days, they’re all in there.

“I can’t cook anything because they’re in the kitchen area. People have been bringing me takeaways. I’m in a really bad place. I feel like going and walking and jumping in the lake at the moment.”

Ms Barrett issued a complaint to her housing officer a week ago after spotting the infestation. However, she claimed she had yet to reach a resolution and was contemplating paying £161 for pest control – but that would take away her “Christmas money.”

“I complained to my housing officer a week ago that I’ve got cockroaches. They’re not doing anything about it, they’re dragging their feet. They said they’d fumigate my flat but there’s no point until they get to the bottom of the problem upstairs.

“Nothing’s being done. I just want the problem sorted out.” Birmingham City Council apologised to Karen as it said plans were in place to treat the infestation.

A statement from the council said: “We are sorry Karen is experiencing issues with infestation. Plans are in place for the property to be treated this week, and an inspection has now been carried out on the property above. The inspection found no infestation in the property above Karen’s. We will arrange a follow-up visit in a few weeks to check for signs of infestation.”

Have you been affected by this or a similar housing issue? We would like to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing stephanie.balloo@reachplc.com