A woman is "terrified" of sitting and sleeping in her own home after it became overrun with mice.
Libby Crockett has lived in her Torus-owned flat in Tuebrook with her dog for seven years and said she "never really had any problems" previously. In October 2022 the 26-year-old was in her kitchen when she heard a bag of recycling rustle on her countertop.
When she moved the bag she was "disgusted" to see two eyes looking up at her as a mouse sat under her microwave. She reported the problem to her housing provider the next day and they requested for pest controllers to visit her flat.
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Libby told The ECHO: "The mouse was looking right at me, it was absolutely horrendous. Anti pest came out and put some poison down in the kitchen and living room and said they would let Torus know about what they find.
"Over the next few days I noticed droppings all over my counter tops, chopping boards, by my toaster and kettle. Between 3am and 4am I started hearing noises coming from the living room while I was in bed, it was like scratching and it was unbearable."
Over the next few weeks Libby was cleaning up mouse droppings everyday and saw a number of mice running through her kitchen and what she described as a "baby rat" in her living room. A joiner also attended the flat to fill in some holes where they thought the rodents were getting in, which did not work.
It wasn't until November 30 that Torus started putting Libby up in a hotel.
She said: "My home should be a place where I go to relax, instead I didn't want to stand in the kitchen for too long in case a mouse jumped out at me and I was just scared to go home.
"I was in the flat one night at 7pm and I saw this baby rat in the living room which was playing like Tom and Jerry. I was just so stressed out as throughout this whole thing I was working full time and living out of a backpack.
"They would book me into a hotel for two and three days at a time and then on the day I was checked out I would be lugging my things around not knowing where I would be that night. I was worried they were going to make me stay there when it was unliveable.
"Anti pest kept finding more gaps in the flat and they even found droppings and a live mouse living in my armchair. They then put traps down and there were four dead mice caught in one week."
Libby is still living in a hotel, where she's not allowed to stay with her dog, and has been given a date by Torus where the kitchen will be ripped out and replaced. They told Libby once this was complete she would be able to move back in.
Libby said: "I do not want to move back in, how can I? There's mice droppings all over my carpet, in my furniture and all over my appliances. I've asked to be moved somewhere else but they said there's nothing in the area until the new year."
Margaret Goddard, Torus Group Assets Director, said: "We are aware of the issue in the tenant’s property and, as soon as we were alerted, acted swiftly to get pest control measures in place. Teams have since made repeat visits, including completing repairs to locate and seal any points where mice could enter the property from the outside.
"As this has proven to be a difficult case to solve quickly, we arranged for the customer to move into a hotel on a temporary basis, where she will remain until we can be certain the infestation is eliminated. We are also currently in the process of replacing the kitchen units as a precautionary measure.
“We are in regular contact with the tenant and are doing all we can to resolve the issue and provide further help. We have also found and offered her an alternative flat and she will be viewing shortly.
“In the meantime, we continue to look for a long-term solution and explore further options.”
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