By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
A Gloucestershire family are at their wits’ end after having to put up with a bed bug infestation in their home for more than 16 months.
Stephen Long from Coleford is calling on housing association Stonewater to solve the issue they have been living with since the end of April last year.
He said he along with his partner Jen Brown and a step-daughter have been “forced to sleep in the living room” because they “cannot safely or confidently use the bedrooms”.
Despite repeated treatments and extensive cooperation with Stonewater they’re still finding the blood-sucking insects in their home and are frustrated that the problem persists despite multiple pest control and specialist heat treatments.
Ms Brown said they became aware of the problem in April 2025 after she woke up one morning and found what she thought was a beetle.
“I found another one a couple of days later and thought, ‘what is it?’ I took a picture of it and put it in the old Google lens and it came up as a bed bug.
“Pest control reckon we’ve had them for a long time before we realised.”
Mr Long said he has a major phobia of them and they are all sleeping downstairs.
The 47-year-old has COPD, arthritis in his neck, scoliosis, fibromyalgia and chronic pain, while Ms Brown has arthritis in her hands and legs, fibromyalgia, asthma and high blood pressure.
Their stepdaughter, aged 20, also has a disability but they have all resorted to sleeping in the living room to escape the bugs, despite the discomfort.
Mr Long said: “I’m sleeping on a two seater sofa and I’m six foot tall. With the health conditions we’ve got.
“I’m sleeping on a two seater sofa and I’m six foot tall. With the health conditions we’ve got.
“They have helped but you don’t just stop when you can’t work out why you can’t get rid of [the bed bugs].
“It just seems like it’s never going to end. It’s unbelievable.”
Mr Long went on to claim Stonewater are now suggesting that he and his family may be responsible for repeatedly bringing the bedbugs into the home.
“We strongly dispute this,” he said.
“Neither Jen nor I work, our shopping is delivered and we now rarely leave the house because we are frightened of transferring bed bugs elsewhere.”
He went on to say the infestation has also cut them off from their support network.
“We cannot safely visit the people who support us because of the risk of taking bedbugs into their homes, and they do not come into ours because of the same risk. This has left an already disabled household increasingly isolated.
A Stonewater spokesperson said they understand how difficult the situation has been for Mr Long and his family, and the impact it has had on them.
“We’re disappointed that, despite considerable effort and treatments over a long period of time, the issue remained unresolved.
“Our pest management policy makes it clear that bed bugs in an individual home are normally the customer’s responsibility.
“However, we know that some customers may need additional help and, over the course of more than a year, we worked closely with Mr Long in an effort to resolve the infestation. Stonewater funded several treatments and specialist inspections on separate occasions, as well as providing practical and financial assistance and replacement household items.
“We want to be clear that we do not attribute the presence of bed bugs to Mr Long or his family. Bed bug infestations can be extremely difficult to eradicate and, despite considerable efforts by all involved, it has unfortunately persisted.
“We have now exhausted the pest control treatment we are able to fund on Mr Long’s behalf. We recognise this will be disappointing for Mr Long and his family.
“While we are no longer able to fund further pest control treatment, we have offered to provide Mr Long with details of pest control providers that he can approach directly to help resolve the situation.”
Over the past year Stonewater say they have arranged and funded extensive support for Mr Long, including multiple pest control treatments, including whole-property treatments and specialist heat treatment, specialist canine detection and additional inspections removal of belongings to enable treatment works to take place.
They have also replaced household items including mattresses, bedding, a sofa and a bed base.
And they have provided support with access to a grant from Longleigh, Stonewater’s charitable arm that provides help with essential costs and they say they have provided practical and financial assistance to support the household while treatment works were undertaken.
Mr Long confirmed they successfully applied for a Longleigh grant but “it did not fund bedbug treatment or resolve the infestation, which is still continuing”.