Plague of flies hits villagers

Environmental health officials say a plague of flies on the Staffordshire-Cheshire border has been unwittingly caused by a local egg farm and the recent heatwave.

Residents in the Betley, Wrinehill and Madeley areas have made a string of complaints to local councils about the nuisance flies.

Council officers from Crewe and Newcastle-under-Lyme have set up a joint task force to deal with the swarms in the villages.

They believe that the national fly population has increased because of the hot weather across the UK.

But they add that the local problems are linked to an egg farm at Checkley.

Officials stress that the Moore family, who own Grange Farm, have done nothing wrong and are co-operating fully with their attempts to get rid of the flies.

The family say the problem has arisen following the EU ban on certain pesticides which the business had previously used to keep the insect problem in its hens to a minimum.