A mum from Wales has said that an ant infestation at her home has become so severe that the little critters have even started clambering onto her children's dinner plates.
Ella Mason, who has lived in a council house since 2013, said her family is being forced to buy takeaways because her kids have become scared to eat their food.
Ella told WalesOnline that the pests are just the latest in a series of issues with the house, including cracks in the walls, peeling plaster and a hole in the floor.
"I shouldn't have to live like that," said the 36-year-old. "My kids don't even want to be in the same house with all of the ants running around. They are all over my living room floor. They are all over my kitchen floor, they are all over my kitchen cupboards."
She went on: "[They] got into my food... so I had to chuck everything out last week. My kids were eating a lot of takeaways because they wouldn't eat because by the time I had put their food on the plate there are ants there."
Ella, who works in retail, has also attempted to start her own resin art business but says that even this had been affected by the ants.
She added: "They are getting on everything. They are living in my house rent-free basically."
Cardiff Council said that plastering work took place at the property in April and additional decorating was due to take place next month.
Pest control was also sent out urgently when the ant issue was raised, the council added.
But Ella says the decorating work has not been completed quickly enough and claimed to have spent her own money trying to fix up the decaying property.
She said: "I can't decorate it because all of the problems are still persisting. It is just wasting money into my property and I haven't got money to waste."
Speaking about the affect the housing issues were having on her two children, Ella added: "My kids just think it is absolutely dirty. One of them is really affected. He won't have any toast, he won't have anything which is on the side of the unit.
"He is really funny like that. He has seen the ants now and that is it. He hates it. He hates my house."
Ella is currently on Band B of Cardiff Council's housing waiting list, which is one of the higher priority bands, but says she has been waiting on this since 2017.
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “Works to repair the hole in the floor in Ms Mason’s property were completed this week (Thursday). Some additional ventilation work identified by our operatives during this visit will take place shortly.
"Plastering work began at the property in April and additional work is scheduled to take place next month. Previous attempts to complete this work both in June, 2021, and June, 2022, were not successful due to the tenant not being home at the time of the pre-arranged appointment and on another occasion, refusing access to operatives.
"While routine works such as plastering are usually completed within 25 working days, we are currently dealing with a high number of requests for replastering work, which is having an impact on these normal timescales. We are grateful for tenants’ patience.
"More than 22,700 repairs were carried out by the council’s own responsive repairs teams and contractors on our 13,800 council homes in the city in 2022/23. Emergency works are usually completed within two to 24 hours, and we aim to address urgent cases within five working days.
"In response to the ant infestation reported to the council earlier this month, while ants are considered as a nuisance pest rather than a public health one, our pest control team did attend the following day. A further report has been made and the team is in contact with Ms Mason to arrange a revisit."
