Six families have been found cramped in a cockroach-infested house in Wembley with many suffering from insect bites.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Three adults and three children to one bunkbed found in a Wembley extension (Picture: Brent Council)Three adults and three children to one bunkbed found in a Wembley extension (Picture: Brent Council) (Image: Archant)

Brent Council raided the property in London Road on August 22 after neighbours complained of overcrowding, and found up to twenty-six people living inside the house.

In one room, two adults and two children were found to be sharing one bed between them, while in the back garden a family-of-six shared a bunkbed inside a crammed extension.

The enforcement officers also encountered disrepairs, damp, mould, blocked fire escapes, dumped rubbish, rat-eaten furniture, swarming flies and hundreds of cockroaches.

Placid Winson D’Costa, a waiter who pays £650 a month in rent, said: “We have bites all over us. In the night, it’s even worse. There are thousands of them and they are everywhere - in the bed, in the fridge, in the cupboards. And they are growing.”

Cllr Harbi Farah, cabinet member for housing and welfare reform, said: “This is one of the most tragic cases of poor living conditions in the private rented sector within Brent.

“These vulnerable families have been cheated by a landlord who is well aware that he is housing people in squalor for a profit. The council won’t stand for it.”