Cabin crew staff at Manchester Airport say they are being driven to distraction by a ‘mass infestation’ of mice running rampant in their duty room.
Around 500 members of Ryanair staff are thought to be affected by the vermin outbreak, which is confined to a room where on-call cabin crew wait for long periods on their daily shifts.
As airport bosses work to resolve the issue with pest control specialists, staff said the mice are now ‘jumping all over’ them. The ‘infestation' was first reported in September 2022, with staff saying they believe the situation is ‘a lot worse’ now - however the airport say they were unaware of the issue until December, when a pest controller was called.
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One member of staff, who did not wish to be named, told the ECHO: “They're climbing up people's legs, running around our feet. One of them jumped on my colleague's shoulder yesterday while she was sleeping. They're jumping all over us. Basically, we're like a playground for them."
The staff member said the issue had been reported to both Manchester Airports Group and Ryanair in September but they felt that little had been done so far to address the problem.
Bosses at Manchester Airport said they are currently working with the airline and appointed pest control specialists to resolve the ‘pest issue’ as soon as possible.
The member of staff continued: "We've been sending requests every day to Ryanair as well as Manchester Airport about this, and no one seems to be getting back. It's starting to get a lot worse now.
"At the moment, we have seen five (mice), but when the room is silent you can hear them all running above us, scratching in the walls and the ceiling. It's got to the point where we're refusing to sit in the room, it's getting that bad."
He added that an exterminator was eventually sent out last week, but after putting down three traps he told them there was "nothing he could do" due to the rapid rate at which the mice were breeding.
The anonymous staff member said: "There's 500 cabin crew in Manchester, and we're all disgusted. We have people with fears of rodents. A girl had an anxiety attack, and it's just getting out of control. People are coming in feeling anxious.
"We have complained numerous times a day, not only me but other cabin crew members. One girl got a call from management saying it was sorted - and the next day she had a mouse jump on her."
He continued: "The cabin crew at Manchester are sick of not being heard and we want something to be done about this now, especially in a place where crew have to eat their food."
A Manchester Airport spokesman said: “We are aware of a pest issue in a briefing area used by Ryanair. We are working with the airline and appointed pest control specialists to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
Ryanair was approached for comment by both the ECHO and the M.E.N.
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