Home with cockroach infestation 'like a Stephen King horror film' says pest controller

ByHolly Harrison

BBC Wales

Hundreds of thousands of cockroaches were found in a shared home in an infestation described as the worst the pest controller had seen in 38 years.

Gareth Davies, who said the scene had looked like one from a "Stephen King film", said his team had used specialist equipment to vacuum up "hundreds of thousands" of cockroaches from the four bedroom property in Pontypridd, south Wales.

He said his company had dealt with hundreds of cockroach jobs in the past 12 months, compared with just a handful a year five years ago.

There have been reports of a rise in cockroach sightings across some of Britain's urban areas, according to the British Pest Control Association (BPCA).

The recent warmer weather is thought by some experts to be speeding up cockroaches' breeding cycle.

Davies said the shared house in Pontypridd, which had been occupied by student nurses, was "absolutely horrendous".

The infestation came to light after neighbouring properties complained about cockroaches, despite residents there never having seen one before.

When Davies and his team gained access to the home, they found it was "absolutely alive" with the insects.

"We must have hoovered up hundreds of thousands of cockroaches with specialist equipment and then treated it."

He said they were clustering in large numbers and emerging from places including fridge seals, plug sockets, toasters and microwaves, adding: "It was like something out of a Stephen King film."

The cockroaches were identified as German cockroaches, Blattella germanica, which Davies said were the most common type in southern parts of the UK and places such as London.

The team first used specialist vacuum equipment to remove as many of the cockroaches as possible.

They then treated the property with a high-potency insecticide.

Davies said this had caused even more cockroaches to emerge.

"By applying the insecticides, that's when they started falling out of conduit pipes, literally coming out of plug sockets, out of the toasters, out of the back of microwave ovens," he said.

The treatment process was repeated weekly for five weeks.

Davies said further treatments would be needed because the infestation had been so deep-seated.

"We've had a massive impact there," he said.

"We are picking up now probably 10 to 20 a week in specialist attracting traps, which is to be expected due to the extent of it."

He said the property had not been the cleanest his team had encountered, but cockroaches could thrive anywhere there had been a food source, including abandoned food.

"How these people weren't ill, I do not know," he said.

Davies said the number of cockroach infestations he was dealing with had increased dramatically.

"Five years ago, I could count on one hand how many cockroach problems we used to deal with in a 12-month period," he said.

"But in the last 12 months, we've had hundreds and hundreds."

He said he had already dealt with six cockroach jobs this month.

"It's just been an absolute explosion," he said.

Davies believes the warmer weather could be contributing to the increase.

"We've had a lot of weeks exceeding 30 degrees," he said.

"Cockroaches thrive in the heat. They develop a lot quicker, so their breeding cycle speeds up drastically."

He said cockroaches were also found in places including restaurants and parts of the transport industry, and could be transported in suitcases and bags.

He described them as "very resilient" and said their short breeding cycle meant populations could multiply quickly in warm conditions.

Natalie Bungay, head of technical at the British Pest Control Association (BPCA), which represents the industry, said it had been "hearing about increased cockroach activity in some urban areas, including Cardiff".

"But I'd be unable to say there's been a clear rise right across Wales.

"It's likely to be a combination of factors rather than one simple cause," she said.