Frustrated resident hangs up notice for neighbours as they keep calling police

A homeowner has been forced to display an unusual "polite notice" in their window, requesting neighbours refrain from alerting police to an apparent issue within their property.

The message was spotted by a passerby, who felt compelled to photograph it and post it on Reddit out of bewilderment. "Please note!" it stated. "Yes I have a fly problem! It is being sorted!" Indeed, multiple dead flies were visible surrounding the notice.

The homeowner continued to plead: "Please do not contact police! They have visited twice to do a welfare check. It is not fair on them or me. There isn't anyone dead or injured on the premises."

The message closed: "If you have any concerns, please knock on the door or leave a note with your number so I can speak with you and reassure you. Many thanks."

Posting a picture of the notice online, the Redditor wrote: "The fly obscuring the M at the end is absolute gold." They also added that the home is located in Exeter, Devon.

Numerous Reddit users replied that they were baffled, with one questioning: "I feel like in the time it took to write out that notice, print it out (and laminate it? ) and put it on the window, the homeowner could've gone medieval on the flies with some Raid [fly spray].

"That being said, I've also had issues with flies, and if it's this bad, I would wager there is rotting food (or a rotting animal corpse) or something somewhere in the property. Might even need professional attention at this stage."

A second person offered a potential theory: "There are plants that attract them my parents had a caravan in the Lake District that was plagued by them. Dad was talking to the neighbour when they noticed the shrub was moving. It was 1000s of flies the neighbour dug up the plant and no more issues."

A third added: "Cat food can turn so fast in a warmer environment, literally an hour or two is all it takes to see visible eggs forming. My mum had a bad turn and couldn't empty her kitchen bin with some leftover Felix in. In just a couple of days it was like every fly in town had moved in and they were really hard to get rid of even after I'd boiled, bleached and fly sprayed like a maniac."

Whilst a fourth Reddit user recalled a similar scenario: "We had constant flies appearing in our living room and the only explanation was the chimney.

"Got it swept and the guy pulled out two bin bags' worth of bird's nests including at least six former pigeons. We have a cowl on the top of the chimney so no longer an issue but my goodness."

Others who had spotted the notice in person shared their observations too, meanwhile. One claimed: "Big up Exeter! It isn't being sorted though, that sign has been up for months."

Another sympathised: "Yeah i remember this from Exeter too. They had a cat in the window too, poor thing."

And a third individual alleged: "Can confirm its been up for a while, I went by this house in August."