HORRIFIED residents say thousands of maggots have crawled out of drains and manholes and infested their gardens.

Some householders in Spennymoor, County Durham, are too frightened to open their windows and have been forced to block their doors with tea towels to stop the creepy-crawlies getting in.

Constant bleaching and jet washing has failed to stem the tide and the fed up residents are demanding Northumbria Water takes action.

The problem is centred around the Flora Street and Edward Street area of the town and began just over a week ago when Melanie Hubbard discovered her backyard carpeted with maggots.

“It was a week gone Friday and I’d gone to let the dog out before I went to bed,” said the mother-of-two.

“There were thousands of them. I couldn’t see the yard, the bench or any of the toys. It was horrible. They were climbing up the doors and windows and getting into the house.”

Nearby in Edward Street resident Lisa Hudspeth said maggots had been coming out of the manhole in the alley behind her house and had covered her backyard.

“It’s horrible,” she said. "I’ve never known anything like it in my life. I’ve lived here 12 years and nothing like this has happened before.”

Another neighbour has discovered hundreds of maggots in her garden every night since Tuesday, while Kayla Leigh Seymour, who is pregnant and has a two-year-old son, was invaded by the creatures after the storm on Saturday night.

“Last night was really bad,” said Miss Seymour, of Craddock Street. “There were thousands in my yard and they were climbing up my door and into my house.

“I had to block the bottom of the door with a tea towel and I daren’t open the windows.”

Others have shared similar experiences on Facebook and there are rumours a dead dog may have been dumped in the sewerage system.

A Northumbria Water spokesperson said: “We received a call on Friday, August 21 and we attended the next day and spoke to the resident. We advised we would need to do a survey of the sewer and the resident’s drainage system and this is planned for tomorrow (Monday). We will not know the cause of the problem until that has been done.”

Spennymoor residents reported that Northumbria Water representatives had visited affected streets on Sunday afternoon.