RESIDENTS are demanding action after becoming 'plagued' with flies inside their homes on a Latchford housing estate.

The Environment Agency (EA) and council environmental health officers are investigating the issue around Edgewater Park following a string of complaints.

Problems have escalated in the past week as temperatures soared, with the situation described as 'unbearable'.

An emergency meeting is due to be held imminently.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said she caught between 50 to 70 flies on a fly-strip within 48 hours in her property, which is rented from Plus Dane Housing.

The 'plague of flies' have also been seen mating and are causing 'significant disruption' to eating arrangements.

Edgewater Park is located close to Novelis Recycling, on Thelwall Lane, and Plus Dane believes the insects could be coming from the site.

The organisation's director of housing Andrea Howarth said: "We are aware that a number of our tenants at Edgewater Park are experiencing high numbers of flies in their homes which appear to be coming from the recycling plant nearby.

"This problem is exacerbated in the hot weather we are currently seeing and makes life very uncomfortable for our tenants.

"We have been in continuous dialogue with the EA in a bid to address the issues on behalf of our tenants.

"We understand that some measures have been taken by the plant but this does not appear to have lessened the problem so we now need to look at what else can be done to find the right solution for our tenants including what further measures we may be able to take."

But Novelis believes the issue may have arisen from a disused piece of land yards away.

Plant manager Steve Hedar said: "We are aware of this issue and contacted the EA. We have noticed an increase of flies in the last few weeks.

"The site at the end of the lane has been storing waste derived fuel – it has been left there.

"We are trying to work with neighbours to sort this issue out as soon as possible. The number of flies has gone up this year."

The council issued advice to those affected.

A spokesman said: "We acknowledge that an increase in flies can be extremely unpleasant.

"We would ask residents to secure any food or kitchen waste in a sealed bin while we complete our investigations."

The EA confirmed it believes the alarming number of flies could partly be linked to fly-tipping.

"We are treating the dumping of illegal waste across various locations in Merseyside and Warrington as a major investigation," added a spokesman.

"This waste poses a risk to the environment and has the potential to harm human health – as such we treat waste crime extremely seriously and will do all we can to catch and prosecute the criminals involved in cases such as this."

To report fly-tipping call the EA's incident hotline on 0800 807 060 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.