Milton Keynes mum's fears for daughter as bee 'tornado' takes over Doune House flat block

The mother of a young girl with special educational needs has described her fear of 30,000 bees which have swarmed on her apartment block looking "like a tornado".

Kayley Harding, 30, lives in a council-owned block of flats in Milton Keynes with her nine-year-old daughter Lacey, but cannot open her windows for fear of letting the bees into her apartment.

She said the bees have appeared at her home in West Bletchley when the warmer weather arrives every year for the last three or four years, but has grown frustrated at the lack of help.

Milton Keynes Council has told her that it is unable to help as the bees are a protected species, she said. The authority said it was looking to find "a long-term solution".

Ms Harding said the four-storey Doune House, which has 12 flats, had been "completely taken over" by the three colonies of bees.

"We've got over 30,000 bees," she said. "They all seem to congregate on the ground floor overnight but in the morning they disperse and they're all over the building.

"When they're swarming, it honestly looks like a tornado. It's awful. They sometimes swarm at the back of the building so we can't really use the courtyard.

"You can stand on them at any time because they're all on the stairwell. If my daughter gets stung, how do I know she's not going to have an allergic reaction?"

Ms Harding's daughter has global development delay, and was feeling "a bit scared", she said. She added she had seen the impact on her daughter's skin of keeping the windows shut.

Ms Harding said one of her neighbours in the Milton Keynes estate was allergic to bees and had had to lock herself away. She added: "I don't want want to get to the point where someone's life is at risk.

"My neighbour with an epipen is being moved to a hotel. But what is one night going to do? These bees have taken over.

"The council just don't listen. I don't think they're taking it seriously at all. There are other children in the block. It's just ridiculous."

A Milton Keynes Council spokesperson said: "We’re carrying out a cleaning operation to remove the bees and have provided hotel accommodation for one resident.

"The council is looking at long-term solutions with our contractor."

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