A family spent weeks in a freezing, powerless home after mice chewed through wires.
Patricia Barnes, 57, of Borough Road, Seacombe first contacted the ECHO in September after a five-year pest infestation had become so "unbearable" the mum feared for the safety of her daughter, who is autistic. This week, Patricia told the ECHO she has been living without electricity or heating after a rodent "chewed through" wires in her home.
She said for two weeks she and her daughter, 22, had been confined to the kitchen, despite the electric cooker not working properly, as all the other plug sockets in the house tripped the electricity and caused it to go off. She said her radiators were also faulty and didn't emit any heat, making the house as cold as an "iceberg."
READ MORE: Man arrested after police smash doors in following Woodchurch shooting
When she spoke to the ECHO yesterday (Wednesday, December 21), Patricia said that despite calling her housing provider "every single day" she hadn't seen a technician since November. She told the ECHO yesterday: "We were standing in the kitchen two weeks ago, and all of a sudden the electricity just tripped. Every time we then tried a plug it would just trip again.
"No one has been out since November. We were told by one technician that the mice had chewed through a wire.
"I've been on the phone every single day to the provider [for two weeks]. We're going to have to spend Christmas in the cold. It's warmer outside than it is in my house. The radiators don't throw any heat out, it's like an iceberg in my house."
Patricia, who acts as a full-time carer for her bed-bound mum, said a technician had been able to reduce the output of the plugs, but only in her kitchen, to allow them to continue working.
She said: "We can't even use my cooker. It's only a small kitchen. It's not large enough to swing a cat in."
Since the ECHO took Patricia's concerns to her housing provider Sanctuary Housing, it confirmed that electrical repairs were carried out today to restore power to her home.
A spokesperson for Sanctuary said: "The electrical repairs to fully restore power were completed at this property on Thursday 22 December. We are sorry this issue took longer than expected to resolve and for the inconvenience this has caused.
"While no faults were found with the radiators during an inspection in November, to offer additional support to our tenant, we are arranging an appointment to carry out further checks to ensure they are working properly and will ensure any work required is carried out as soon as possible."
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
READ NEXT:
Schoolboys arrested after KFC broken into in middle of the night
Mum's Christmas presents, and house, go up in flames
Innocent man ‘screamed in agony’ when police officer snapped his arm
Latest covid symptoms as cases soar ahead of Christmas
Hillsborough barrister Mark George dies as family pay tribute
