Rats invade mum's home in Hawkinge

A mum-of-two has told how she has been driven to despair by an infestation of rats

Transcript

00:00I don't even know how to explain it, um, they've destroyed everything, we were decanted for 30 weeks to come back

00:08and it's just the same, it's unsanitational, it's disgusting.

00:14What have the rats done in your house?

00:17Peed, there's faeces everywhere, they've chewed through our belongings, I've got to replace carpets, I've had to replace sofas,

00:24lost my fingers to rat traps so many times.

00:27My bedroom's sealed off because it's so badly contaminated and now infested with mites

00:32because they left no loft hatch for so long.

00:35The loft is full of faeces, full of faeces.

00:39I've had to cover it up myself, perhaps since I'm outside, and before they decanted me,

00:45we could literally hear them day and night up in our loft.

00:48Scratching in the loft?

00:49Scratching in the loft, fighting in the loft, I put my own traps up in the loft.

00:53I thought they were fighting but apparently one must have actually got caught in my trap.

00:56It chewed its own leg off to get away.

00:59I don't really know where to go next.

01:03I've contacted Environmental Health, the MP, the Health and Safety Executive,

01:10my own Housing Trades Executive, and I'm still met with nothing.

01:16I've been sleeping on a sofa for nearly 40 days, you know, I've recovered from Well's disease on a sofa.