RATS are making life a living hell for a Leamington family.
Hayley and Justin Langsdale, who are expecting their fourth child in August, have been sharing their Crown Way flat with the unwanted guest for nearly two years.
The rats were initially just in the attic but the couple were horrified to discover they had found their way into the flat when they found evidence they had helped themselves to food in a kitchen cupboard.
The couple – whose children are aged six, four and one – alerted Warwick District Council to the problem in August 2014 and have since had two exterminators come out and put down poison bait to kill the rodents.
But the rats remain, and 25 year-old Hayley says they are still getting into the kitchen cupboards.
Hayley told The Observer: “Our one year-old crawls everywhere and with rats around I’m really worried about her safety. It’s not an environment any of the children should be in.
“I’ve been told a drain survey needs organising because the visits from exterminators haven’t been successful, but I’ve been passed around so many departments trying to get the problem sorted.”
Hayley, who suffers with alopecia and symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) – where the joining of bones in the pelvis is weakened, especially by pregnancy – is suffering stress from the presence of the rats.
She went into pre-term labour at 30 weeks pregnant last year with her daughter, and is worried the same could happen again the longer they are plagued by rats.
She added: “I can hear the pattering of their feet at night and it keeps me up – I’m always worrying about where the rats are.
“The first exterminator who visited didn’t go into our attic, but the second one did and found rat droppings everywhere. It’s just as well only our Christmas decorations are stored up there.”
Brown rats are most commonly found in England and the district council deal with rats infestations in homes for free.
A council spokeswoman told The Observer a pest officer had completed treatment last year but added there could be a drainage problem which led to rats returning. The council is investigating.
