Dad fears rats might chunk child as terrified household affected by rodents within the partitions

A worried sick father, whose house in Coatbridge has been plagued by rats for six months, fears the relentless rodents may eventually bite his three-month-old baby daughter or son.

Disgruntled Alistair Wardlow is “at the end of his bondage” as the presence of his unwanted guests has resulted in his terrified two year old boy refusing to sleep in his own bed and his girlfriend suffering “terrible anxiety problems.”

You can constantly hear the rats scratching and scratching the walls of the property, trying to get through holes they create in a closet, and often seen running around the garden.

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Describing the hell he and his family went through with the Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser, Alistair said, “You can hear the sound of them scratching walls at night and sometimes I’ve seen their claws come through holes they are in Made the closet so I had to plug the holes myself to keep them from getting through.

“My son is in the closet all the time, so I had to put a television in front of it. My little girl or son could sit on the floor and play with toys and a rat could come in and bite one of them.

“My son will not sleep in his own bed as he is petrified and a rat comes in. He sleeps in the other bedroom with my girlfriend and baby, and I’ve slept on the couch for the past six months.

“My girlfriend has had terrible anxiety problems throughout all of this and it has been a terrible time for all of us.”

The rats have carried a path in the grass next to a shed in Alistair’s garden

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Alistair appeals to the council to “do more” to address his rat problem, which began last summer.

He explained, “It started in the closet when we heard the scratching on the walls and under the floor. There are small gaps that can be big enough to scratch through.

“I also seem like some rats are scurrying along the windowsill and running through the back garden. They carried a path in the grass next to the shed.

“I will not let my son, who absolutely loves nature, play in the garden, which is a real shame because no child is allowed to play in his own garden.

“The council sent out a subcontractor who leaves boxes and comes back to remove them and leave new ones, but there are never rats there and as soon as they leave you can hear them scratching again.

“The rats are in the wall cavities. So what they do doesn’t solve the problem.

“I was told the rats won’t chew through the walls, but there are so many of them that they have every chance.

“I had to correspond with the Council a lot by email and often didn’t hear from them.

“I understand we’re in the middle of a pandemic, but you have phone lines and you shouldn’t be able to actually speak to someone?”

“The Council doesn’t seem very interested in our plight and I really am at the end of my tether.”

A North Lanarkshire Council spokesman said: “Following a report of the presence of rodents on our tenant’s property, we have taken pest control measures which we are monitoring.

“We will take all appropriate measures to remedy this problem.

“Work has been done to install additional proofs on the property. Following the recent weather-related damage, further corrective actions have been identified and will be completed as soon as possible.

“Rodents are attracted to food sources both internally and externally and we would like to remind tenants to take steps to deny them access to food wherever possible. Please visit our website for more information and advice on preventing pest control problems. “