A housing provider is dealing with a bed bug infestation at one of its properties.

Optivo said it took "immediate action" after it discovered an issue with bed bugs in one of its flats at Vincent Court, a sheltered independent living scheme in Vincent Gardens, Sheerness.

It is believed the infestation broke out after a second-hand bed was brought into the building.

An Optivo spokesman said: "We take the wellbeing of all our residents extremely seriously.

"We organised pest control experts to attend the building and they’ve now treated the affected flat and communal area. We don’t believe the bed bugs have spread to other flats, however, we’ve offered to put traps in all homes as a precautionary measure.

"We’ll continue to closely monitor the situation and we will be carrying out further treatment until the problem is fully eradicated."

The firm said its staff had been in regular contact with residents to answer any concerns.

"We’ve been offering advice on minimising the risk of bed bugs spreading and we’ve hand-delivered guidance to everybody living within Vincent Court," he added.

"We’ll continue to hold weekly coffee mornings to keep residents updated on the success of the treatment and our staff are on hand throughout the week to answer any questions they may have in the meantime.

"Residents and their visitors to the scheme continue to have full access to their homes and the communal areas whilst the treatment is taking place.

"Bed bugs can be found in the cleanest of homes and are an increasing problem across the country. We’re really sorry for the distress this may have caused our residents and we apologise for any inconvenience as treatment takes place."

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