20 August 2012 Last updated at 05:06 ET

East Sussex village plagued by swarm of flies

Residents living in a village in East Sussex claim they have been plagued by flies over the summer, with hundreds invading rooms at night.

In the last two months Lewes District Council has received at least 25 complaints from people living in Ditchling.

Environmental Health officers are investigating the problem and think the warm, damp weather is partly to blame.

Villager John Willis said the number of flies was "mind blowing".

"One night there were hundreds, maybe thousands, in the house," he said.

"We used pesticides to spray the house and there were hundreds of dead bodies around.

"There's some link to what is happening with the weather."

'Full sympathy'

Tom Dufty, who also lives in the village, said he has four or five flypapers in the kitchen which need to be changed every couple of days.

"I've never experienced anything like it in Ditchling before," he said.

"One bedroom where we squirted and sprayed, I would think that when we went to pick up the corpses there was something like 400 to 500 lying around in the bedroom."

A Lewes District Council spokeswoman said environmental health officers were conducting a survey to establish whether the fly numbers were down to the general environment or were being caused by specific premises.

She said: "Preliminary findings suggest the warm, damp weather has played a role in the increase in fly numbers generally, although care is being taken not to form any conclusions until our inquiries are completed.

"Residents affected by the flies have the full sympathy of the council and we are grateful for their tolerance and patience while we complete our investigation."