Single mom has to spend Christmas in a hotel amid a plague of flies

A single mother mourning the death of her husband had to leave home over Christmas due to a terrible fly infestation.

Sonya Bullock, 45, and her son Hudson, two, have seen their home in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear riddled with flies that have reduced their lives to misery.

After spending thousands on building maintenance and hundreds on pest control, Bullock can no longer afford Christmas gifts for the family.

The mother, who bought her flat in the seaside town of South Shields from the community in 2008, was already having a tough time after her husband died earlier this year.

She said: “I researched these flies and realized they were drain flies so I spent a lot of money cleaning the drains.

“These flies just wouldn’t go away so I decided to contact the Environmental Health Department who told me they don’t come out for flies.

“He said I had to find the breeding source and wish me luck as they can breed in pipes, drains and gutters.

“I spent months trying to find the breeding source and paid Dyno and Dyno Rod to help me, but no luck.”

Bullock has seen her mental health plummet amid the persistent fly problem, which she says was down to a bathroom leak.

Her doctor has prescribed her antidepressants and she has had to postpone her college course until September next year.

Falling on her mother’s couch was Bullock’s only way to make ends meet and book hotels.

“I have universal credit but can’t get help paying my mortgage and my husband died earlier this year,” Bullock said.

“I’ve stayed at my mum’s but she only has a fold-out bed so I’ve been staying in hotels with my son to get away from the house.

“We’re in one over Christmas and I couldn’t afford Christmas presents for my son or family this year.”

The council said polls have combed Bullock’s home and have been unable to trace the source of the flies.

“They also didn’t find any leaks in the bathroom,” a spokesman said.

‘We will arrange for a surveyor to come back in the new year and further inspect the property.’

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