SWIFT action by the Environmental Health team of the Forest of Dean District Council has averted a public health problem – the descending of swarms of flies around the Sling area.

The problem came to light last week when local people began to notice an increase in fly numbers until, in the words of one Ellwood resident, “it became ridiculous – we had to close all the doors and windows, and they still got in.

“They were everywhere in the house, and in the end I stayed up most of a night hoovering them up.”

During the height of the epidemic, a petition was started by residents on Facebook, as local businesses also began to feel the effects of the swarm, and struggled to eradicate the pests from their buildings.

The Environmental Health department was called into action following a number of complaints from residents about fly infestation, and investigated.

They found that a scrap metal recycling company had received a consignment of what they thought was metal, but which turned out to be a large quantity of food waste.

The source of the problem being identified, they then serveed a Statutory Notice on them to sort out the infestation, and worked with the company to ensure the removal of the waste.

A spokesperson for the district council said: “Following insect nuisance reports from residents, an Environmental Health Officer from the Environmental Protection Team has served a Statutory Nuisance Abatement Notice under section 80(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, on a business at New Dunn Business Works to abate the insect nuisance. 

“We have been working closely with the Environment Agency, the regulatory authority for waste sites, and can confirm that the waste has been fully removed from site.”

They added: “We will continue to actively monitor the situation to ensure the issue is fully resolved and the Abatement Notice is complied with.”