Swarm of wasps terrifies boy, 5 (From Barry And District News)

Swarm of wasps terrifies boy, 5

A BARRY couple woken by a swarm of angry wasps in their child's bedroom are calling for a quicker response to out-of-hours emergencies.

Mother-of-two Leanne Bowley, 31, was alarmed when her five-year-old son Matthew screamed for his dad at 4am on Sunday, August 15.

She and her husband David were horrified to see about 60 of the stinging insects flying around his bedroom.

She said: "Matthew was crying and my four-month-old daughter Marissa was in the next room. I was terrified they'd attack.

"David grabbed Matthew, shut the door and got a can of wasp killer. Opening the door a crack, David saturated the air with the spray, shut it again and left it for a few hours. There were so many dead we knew there must be a nest somewhere close."

Leanne spotted a mass of wasps near her roof.

She added: "We tried to contact someone for help. The police gave us a number for the council's emergency line, but it was on answerphone. I had to wait until Monday for a response.

"Someone's coming from the council on Saturday, but only because there was a cancellation. Otherwise September 3 would have been the soonest this was sorted out. We have to keep all the windows shut to keep the wasps out until then.

"If the local authority know there's a problem, they should have extra staff to cope with it."

A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesman said: "The number of wasp nest cases dealt with this year between April 1 and Tuesday this week is 369, compared to 164 for the same time last year.

"The charge is £26 for treatment of the nest and £52 for treatment plus nest removal, halved for people receiving income support, job seekers' allowance or pension credit. The Pest Control service can be contacted on 01446 709105 and an advice leaflet on the removal of wasps can be sent by post or downloaded from our website www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk"