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Adelaide family finds 'thousands of ants' inside holiday cabin after son complains of 'ghosts in walls'

An Adelaide boy thought he could hear "ghosts in the walls" while on holiday with his family in Melbourne.

When his father later investigated the scratches in the walls his son was hearing, he found their tourist park cabin was infested with "thousands of ants".

In January, Adam Lyttle, his wife and three children stayed at the Crystal Brook Tourist Park in Melbourne for a week.

Mr Lyttle claimed his son was the first to notice something unusual and was not sleeping well, saying he had heard scratching noises during the evenings.

One of Mr Lyttle's children had been having difficulty sleeping prior to the discovery. Source: Supplied
One of Mr Lyttle's children had been having difficulty sleeping prior to the discovery. Source: Supplied

"He was having a hard time sleeping and each night he was telling us he could hear ghosts in the wall scratching," Mr Lyttle told 7 News online.

"It wasn't until later in the trip we saw the slight ant problem and it sort of got worse from there."

He said on the fifth night of their stay the family noticed ants behind the fridge.

He told 7 News Online when the area was sprayed "thousands of them (ants) came out."

Mr Lyttle claimed there were
Mr Lyttle claimed there were

Mr Lyttle claimed when he complained to the holiday park about the ants he was told to "sweep it up".

He said the room was cleaned "eventually after some convincing".

Despite the experience, the family said they had stayed at the tourist park once before, and had never had any issues and the staff had been fantastic.

The infestation was behind the fridge in the cupboard. Source: Supplied
The infestation was behind the fridge in the cupboard. Source: Supplied

In a statement, Crystal Brook Tourist Park told 7 News online that they apologise to Mr Lyttle and his family following the ant situation.

"Although it’s located quite close to the Melbourne CBD, Crystal Brook Tourist Park is very much a “bush” park, with native wildlife and vegetation throughout. Unfortunately, that also sometimes means ants, particularly in certain weather conditions," the park told 7 News online.

"While park staff are always very careful of the ecological balance of the area, they regularly deal with ants and other wildlife, and cabins are thoroughly inspected before any guest checks in. This isn’t always perfect however, and sometimes things are missed.

"We’ll be revising our cabin inspections to ensure this situation doesn’t happen in the future.

The park said they hoped the family would return again.

"We also hope to see Mr Lyttle and his family again. Obviously this was far from an ideal experience for them, but hopefully it doesn’t outweigh Mr Lyttle’s several previous enjoyable stays at the park."