Residents of a housing terrace in Milverton have been inundated with millions of bugs, and have been forced to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed for weeks.
They say they are at a loss as to how to get rid of the invasion after the authorities said they are unable to help.
Beth French, of Fairfield Terrace, is one of a group of householders who became aware of the tiny insects in the third week of August. The problem is continuing, although insect numbers have lessened since the weather turned cooler.
Her house is one of at least 13 in the close-knit community that have been overrun.
“We are at a loss what to do. I have lived here for 18 years and never seen anything like it,” said Beth.
The invasion is believed to be part of a much wider problem, including a massive recent invasion in Blue Anchor, with early harvesting of oilseed rape crops causing immature seed bugs or ‘nymphs’ of the Nysius species, which feed on the crop, to go on the march in search of food and moisture elsewhere, invading nearby homes.
“A neighbour warned me I had a plague of insects on my studio in the garden,” said Beth, a potter and sculptor.
“The whole fence was like liquid black pouring up and heading towards the house, and the whole of the back of the house was seething from floor to roof.”
She said she and others had contacted the council, Environmental Health, the Environment Agency, and Defra, but were told they could not help and the insects are not considered invasive as they are harmless – although “they can nip if you are outside,” Beth and others have found.
“We have had a month of our gardens being unusable, and no-one is interested,” she said.
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