A PLAGUE of insects has been terrorising a woman after they invaded her home through a damaged window.

Josie Cherry, 56, said her house in Salisbury Square, Old Hatfield, had become home to the swarm after tiling came loose.

She told the WHT: “I’ve been waiting 45 months for bathroom tiling to be done by the council.

“It’s become very damp around the window sill and I’ve had hundreds of insects coming in at me.”

She said that gaps near the window allowed water to seep in, bringing with it hatchlings and female mosquitoes, midges and insect eggs into her bathroom.

Ms Cherry, who says she has to wear a hat indoors to protect her from the bugs, said she’d battled them with “seven canisters of insecticide”.

But, she said she was still under almost constant attack from a host of creepy crawlies, including rabbit mites, which she said had left black webbing around her home.

Speaking of the infestation she said: “It’s absolutely horrendous, it’s unhealthy.

“Are there insects nesting and laying dormant under the bath until spring?”

Ms Cherry said the problem was so bad she cancelled Christmas, as her mother and friends were unable to visit her home because of the menace.

And she said her dog had also been bothered by the bugs, and had thrown off his blanket in the middle of the night because of the constant irritation.

A spokeswoman for Welwyn Hatfield Community Housing Trust said: “An inspector will be visiting Ms Cherry to look into the reported problem of damp.

“However, during the recent poor weather conditions, emergency and urgent repair works have had to be prioritised.

“An initial investigation into the reported problem of insects has already been carried out.

“Very few insects were found, but samples have been taken for further analysis into their type and likely cause.”