Tenant’s anger as ants force him from his Westtown home

Lucas Cooke had put up with the creepy-crawlies for five weeks but decided that enough was enough when he found them in his bedroom.

Before that the ants had mainly been in his kitchen, but the problem got so bad that Mr Cooke, 23, is now having to stay with a friend.

“I’ve had to rip up the carpets and throw them away because of all the any powder I’ve had to put down,” he said.

“I can’t eat in my house because ants come straight over to any food I get out, and I have a skin condition so I’ve come out in spots from the powder.”

On one occasion he took out a slice of bread out in his kitchen, turned around for a moment, and looked back to find it crawling with dozens of ants.

He contacted Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing (KNH), which manages his property, but does not feel it has done enough to help him.

He has spent more than £50 of his own money on ant traps and powder.

A KNH spokeswoman said ants could be a problem in the spring and summer, when they start going inside homes to look for food.

“We didn’t see any sign of an infestation when we visited his home, but we have asked building services to look for anywhere that they may be coming in and will treat the property with ant powder,” she said.

“We have also given Mr Cooke some pest control information about how he can help deal with them.”

Mr Cooke’s house in Tweedale Gardens, Westtown, is not the only one to have had problems with ants – several of his neighbours have had similar problems in recent weeks.

Kalsoon Bibi, who lives a few doors down, said: “I’m just cleaning them up and making sure no food is left out.”

Aftab Ahmed, who has lived in Tweedale Gardens for around 11 years, said ants always became a problem when the weather got warmer. “We just ignore them,” he said.

Mr Cooke said the problems started after work was done on streetlights by his home.