A YOUNG family says their dream home has turned into a nightmare after being plagued with a bug and fly infestation.

Daniel Jones says his family was forced to dip into their savings and pay hundreds of pounds for pest exterminators to deal with the infestation after WM Housing refused to help them.

However, the housing association says pest control is the responsibility of its tenants.

Mr Jones, 36, said he fell in love with the home as soon as he saw it and wanted to move his wife Tabitha, 30, and their one-year-old daughter Harley Brook from Droitwich.

He said: “We couldn’t understand why they (the previous owners) wanted to leave, it was a dream come true.”

“But after we moved in we realised why, it became a nightmare.

“When we opened the loft there was a swarm of flies - we even found a cat corpse.

“But the infestation of the bugs is the worse. After we moved in, they were crawling in.

“There was a horrific smell - it turned out to be their faeces.”

Mr Jones said they reported the problems to WM Housing days after moving in at the end of June.

He said: “It has been an absolute nightmare, they have done nothing. I told them our skin is bitten, my daughter has bites on her face.

“They told me ‘you must have brought them with you when you moved in’ - but how can we, when we bought new furniture moving in here. They have had us in tears.

“I thought we were doing the right thing moving here.”

Mr Jones, who is currently unemployed, said despite being a good tenant and paying rent weeks in advance to the housing provider, he has been forced “just before Christmas” to spend more than £800 in pest exterminators to treat the bugs and pay for replacing mattresses and bedding. They have also had to rip the carpets out, leaving them without carpets at the home in Pound Meadow, Clifton Upon Teme.

Mr Jones said: “We want compensation for the money we’ve spent, and what they have put us through.”

Mrs Jones added: “The money saved was for our daughter’s future.

“Just this week I have been on the phone to them every day, we have been fobbed off.

“I’m just furious at them.”

A spokesperson for WM Housing said: “Mr and Mrs Jones moved into their home as a mutual exchange - swapping their home with a tenant housed by another landlord in July. It is the responsibility of tenants to jointly inspect the property before moving in and this was made clear at the time.

“Pest control is also the responsibility of tenants and this is clearly outlined in our tenancy agreements.

“Nonetheless, we were sorry to hear about the issues reported, which we were only made aware of on November 27.

"In response we carried out an inspection and as a good will gesture were prepared to replace the loft insulation, but by this point the property had already been fumigated.

“We hope this has solved the problem.”