A BLOCK of flats for elderly people was treated for an 'infestation' of bedbugs.

Twynham Court in Dean Park Road in Bournemouth is run by Christchurch Housing Society.

One resident in her 80s told the Echo: “They are in three flats – the people in them are aged from their 60s to their 90s.

“We had bedbugs last year and they treated the flat then but not the whole building and now they are back. They laid eggs and a year later they are hatching in the spring. They bite and one of the people is scared to go to bed so they are sleeping on a sofa.

“This is a very nice area and it’s not the sort of place or sort of people you would expect to get bedbugs.”

Another resident said: “We have got the exterminator in now. They keep coming back. I think they are in three flats.”

A man arriving in a van from the pest control company Prokill said: “We are dealing with an infestation but I can’t say to what extent yet and I can’t comment any further than that.”

Joseph Hickish, the director of Christchurch Housing Society, said: “We did have a problem with bedbugs last year at Twynham Court, and when this was discovered we immediately brought in a specialist firm who were given carte blanche to carry out all the necessary treatments to eradicate the problem. “The situation was monitored over a lengthy period, and after many months without any signs of the presence of activity, the evidence was that the ‘bed bugs’ had been completely eradicated. It is a matter of great regret that there appears now to have been a re-infestation, but again we have immediately brought in the specialists.”