Published: Thursday, 15th July, 2010 7:15am

Council to smoke-bomb store as beasties invade homes

The Australian spider beetle.

Fife COUNCIl is to "smoke-bomb" a derelict Kelty store after nearby homes were infested by a plague of beetles breeding in the building.

The former Co-op building in the heart of Kelty, which has lain empty for almost four years, has become overrun with pigeons and other vermin.

Residents have been forced to call on the local authority's pest control after Australian spider beetles, living in the nests of the birds, invaded their homes.

One homeowner last week discovered the beasties had spread to her bedroom after she spent four weeks removing them from her bathroom every morning.

Betty Campbell, Cocklaw Street, said, "I found three of them in my bed and I am not happy. This is a nightmare.

"I've had them in my bathroom for four weeks and pest control have been out to the house and sprayed my bathroom but they are still there.

"Throughout the day I'm picking up more. Nobody has told me whether they come into your house and die like a fly or if they breed. I still feel uncomfortable getting into my bed."

Labour Lochs councillor Alex Rowley told the Press, "The Co-op building is full of pigeons and God knows what other types of vermin.

"It's like something out of the Hitchcock film, The Birds. They are a menace all over the area, with droppings everywhere.

"There is an infestation of an Australian spider beetle that lives in the birds nest and droppings within the building itself.

"This spider bug is now going into nearby houses and people have had to have environmental health out to treat their houses and get rid of the bug."

Mr Rowley demanded conclusive action for the people of Kelty, who he claimed had "just had enough" of a building that was "blighting' the local landscape".

He said, "I have spoken to Fife Council development services and they said they had made contact with the owner of the building and he had agreed to get the building sealed off so they could go in and fumigate the place and put smoke bombs in."

Planning permission had previously been granted to build flats on the site in Cocklaw Street, before a second proposal to build an old folks' home was rejected.

It is now understood a fresh application is being made to take the building back to being a shop, with two flats on top of it.

"The people of Kelty have just had enough. We're trying to rejuvenate our village centre and take a pride in it. We shouldn't have to put up with this," added Mr Rowley.

"It's completely and utterly unacceptable that this building is blighting the landscape of Kelty and is now causing this infestation that is causing real problems for individuals and families in the area."

Fife Council head of environmental services, Fraser Thomson, said, "We intend to gain access to the building, fumigate it and remove any public health nuisance that currently exists.

"We usually ask the owner to proof the building first. We'll deal with the problem but we don't want any recurrence."