Sally de Sousa at the Oldfied Estate

BEDBUGS have infested a sheltered home for the past 10 years and left a centenarian sleeping on the floor, it was claimed this week.

The Oldfield Estate, managed by Central and Cecil (C&C) in Primrose Hill, is home to 250 residents, mostly over the age of 55.

Sally De Sousa, 82, a shareholder and residents’ committee member, said exterminators have repeatedly sprayed flats, but once they rid the pests of one apartment, they’re found in another.

She said: “We’ve had bedbugs in four flats on my corridor of eight in the past year.

“Most importantly, staff are not helping people in the preparations for flat spraying.

“I had to move every piece of furniture away from the wall. I have kids but most people don’t have anyone to help and the office wasn’t providing enough help.”

Ms De Sousa, who has lived at the estate for 26 years, said she was bitten three weeks ago. Her neighbour, who is 102 years old, had to sleep on an air-bed because his bed was infested, she added.

“They wanted to take his bed away, and they were going to provide a hospital bed, but they didn’t make the liaison arrangements so he was thrown out of his bed on to the floor, I think for one night, because there was no one to put the bed together,” said Ms De Sousa.

“That sort of liaison work is essential for sheltered housing.”

Another consequence of the repeated infections is social exclusion.

Ms De Sousa added: “We haven’t had a communal room since before Covid because people kept coming down and re-infecting the soft furnishings, so we’re not meeting together except now for meetings. But at this point, we haven’t got a community.

“The community is devastated and lots of people have died. In the last few years, a lot of new people have come in.

“There has been no attempt to introduce people to each other because of data protection, which seems to be the most ridiculous thing to operate in a place like this, where people are coming in who are older and particularly need guidance. I don’t know most of them.”

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Amanda Sebestyen, who lives in Camden Town, has also raised concerns after hearing about the conditions faced by her friend, who recently passed away.

“My brilliant friend Russell Butler spent his last months trying to sleep on the floor of his flat, awake most of the night bleeding from bedbug bites,” she said.

“Even after he was hospitalised with a blood infection, when he returned the infestation had not been dealt with. “He was a backbone of the tenants’ association and he wrote many times to the management, but the most noticeable action they took was to remove his furniture without compensation.”

A spokesperson from C&C said: “We are as concerned as residents at Oldfield Estate with the current situation with bedbugs and are doing everything we can to help bring the issue under control.

“We recognise the discomfort and disruption that this is causing, and we are working with residents to continue to find ways to support those impacted.

“We are regularly monitoring for bedbugs throughout the estate and where individual cases are identified, we apply relevant treatments. In a handful of severe cases, our pest control contractor has recommended that some items of furniture are disposed of in order to manage the infestation.

“We have set up a hardship fund to support customers with the cost of replacing furniture where this has happened. “We’re regularly writing to residents keeping them updated about treatment works, and we have been pleased to report that the number of bedbug cases have reduced in recent months.”