A GLASGOW couple who were staying at a homeless hostel were horrified when they found a cockroach in their baby's milk.

William Waddell and his partner Lynda Granger say the Hamish Allan Centre in Tradeston was crawling with the insects.

Pest control officers are now trying to tackle the infestation at the council-run centre, while staff have been trying to arrange alternative accommodation for the residents.

It's feared young children may have been put at risk because cockroaches can carry serious diseases such as typhoid, gastroenteritis and dysentery.

Centre staff regularly house families who have nowhere else to turn until they can secure a more permanent home.

William and Lynda were staying there with their children, William, six months and Gary, nine, for around two weeks before being offered a flat.

William, 25, said: "They gave us a decent area to stay in, a living room and adjoining kitchen with two bedrooms but the place is crawling with cockroaches.

"They were all over the kitchen and the kids' bedrooms. I had to put vaseline around the bed frames and legs to stop them getting on the beds. It's a nightmare.

"Then I found one in the baby milk. That was the last straw. When I complained to the staff they offered to buy us new baby milk but that's not the point.

"We are moving out of the centre but I'm worried other families will have to put up with the same problems. It's unacceptable."

William and his family, who have moved around a lot, ended up homeless after returning to Glasgow from Stirling this year.

The latest infestation comes just two months after a report by consumer watchdog Which? claimed 10 Glasgow hospital units were riddled with cockroaches.

And health inspectors found cockroaches and flies in the kitchen of the Southern General, as the Evening Times reported in September 2005.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "A team of professional pest controllers has been on site to deal with an infestation of insects.

"Alternative accommodation is being sourced for residents."