A worried mum says her five-year-old daughter is too scared to sleep at night after a rat stole her food.
Kia Selway is concerned little Aria might also get ill because the scheme they live on is riddled with marauding rodents. The 23-year-old has lived in the property in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, for four years and told of vermin getting evermore brazen.
In one recent raid, a rat scurried from behind the bathroom basin to snaffle a bourbon biscuit Aria had dropped while in the bath. Quick-thinking Kia managed to grab her phone and film the moment on camera.
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"I've also got video of them scuttling around the kitchen," Kia told WalesOnline. The Merthyr Valleys Homes housing association tenant added: "In one clip you can see a large rat running along the skirting and disappearing behind the washing machine.
"It all started about three weeks ago when I came downstairs one morning to find two rats sitting on the kitchen counter top eating their way through a loaf of bread. And since then it's just become steadily worse.
"They are in the attic, under the floor boards and in the walls. They've chewed through my living room ceiling, gnawed holes in cupboards and ripped open bags of food.
"I can't even prepare a meal safely because there's droppings and urine on all my worktops," explained Kia. She added that, as a result, both of them have also contracted ringworm, an itchy fugal infection that causes contaminated skin to turn red and scaly.
She also claimed that, despite her housing association having previously attempted to "block up the holes" caused by the rats, the organisation does not have a designated pest control team. Indeed, on the Merthyr Valleys Homes website it states that in such eventualities Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council should be contacted, adding that 'the cost of the treatment is the tenant's responsibility'.
As a result Kia, who's currently unemployed and receiving benefits, had to fork out £40 to book an appointment for rat bait to be placed around her home. "Aria's now afraid to go to sleep at night because the rats are in her bedroom - they're in mine too," she added.
"She won't even go to the toilet on her own anymore. Meanwhile, I'm anxious that each time we eat we'll end up getting ill. I've asked to be relocated but am still waiting to hear back."
A spokesperson for Merthyr Valleys Homes said: "Kia first contacted us on January 26 to raise her concerns about a rat infestation at her home.
"We responded very quickly and carried out an inspection at Kia’s home and identified the repairs that will help resolve the problem. We have carried out these repairs over the past two weeks, working with Kia and the local authority.
"The statutory duty for pest control falls to the local authority so Kia has done the right thing by involving them to carry out baiting at her home. To date we have been handling this issue in line with our repairs and maintenance procedures.
"However, Kia has now raised a formal complaint and therefore from today we will be following our complaints procedure. Of course, we will continue to work with Kia and other partners in the Local Authority to resolve this matter as quickly as possible."
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