A family of five must sleep in the same room because they say the house is plagued by rats running through their floorboards and crumbling walls.
Amie Kavanagh (31) and Shane Brown (34) live in Grimsby with their children Chloe (11), Lilly-Rose (9) and Harvey (7).
They say rats have infested their home for four years, but over the past week they have spent hours chasing the rodents.
They even carry a spade with them in case they see one, reports Grimsby Live.
The family has run out of wisdom and says they wish they could just “burn the house down”.
Amie said the last eight days had been awful.
She said, “We had rats for four years.
“The last week has been by far the worst though, they come through the floorboards and the walls. It’s so bad that the whole family has to sleep in the same room because the kids don’t feel safe.
“I have severe Crohn’s disease and am currently on immunosuppressive medication. So if I am bitten by a rat, I will die.
“We had to nail up a number of holes in the nursery around the house for the rats to get through. They’re popping up all over the place, however, we spent an hour last night catching one with our spade.
Aime Kavanagh and Shane Brown in the kitchen of their home
(Image: GrimsbyLive / Donna Clifford)
“For the past seven days, we’ve seen rats that varied in size and got bigger as the days went on. They also show up all over the house, not just in one place.
“When my brother was visiting recently, he saw someone looking at him on the stairs and he raced through a narrow crack in the floorboards.
“Even in the room we sleep in, there was a huge hole right next to my daughter, through which a rat came.
Aime Kavanagh and Shane Brown carry spades in case they see a rat
(Image: GrimsbyLive / Donna Clifford)
“We’re just covering everything to stop that now. We spent £ 500 in May decorating the house with our own money and now we had to stop because of the rats.
“We haven’t even bought groceries for the closets this week because we don’t know what they’re nibbling on.
“Also, the shower is now leaking and the water is dripping on the lights below – the house is just a health hazard.”
Partner Shane said, “I just want to burn the house down.”
Since the couple cannot work, with Amie unable to take care of her and her autistic son Harvey due to her health and Shane, the couple cannot move.
Amie said, “I can’t even bathe myself without Shaun’s help and the chances of us getting a surety so we can move out is impossible, it’s like we’re trapped.”
“I also think why should I just go? We tried to do things ourselves and now it’s all ruined.
“You just have the feeling that you exist in the house. We don’t sleep, we hardly eat, and we spend all of our time catching rats.
A rat’s tail stuck to the carpet gripper
(Image: GrimsbyLive / Donna Clifford)
“Our son’s fear goes through the roof because of the rats and he only sleeps an hour a night.
“He keeps asking if it’s safe to enter a room.
Amie said it’s not just the impact on the house, but the emotional impact the ordeal had on her and her children.
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She said, “As a mother, I just feel like a failure because of that. I can’t give the kids a nice home while this is all happening.
“It’s not normal to live like this, when we see one we can’t stop until we catch it because we’re so worried that it might bite one of us.
“It really affected our lives and we had to give up a lot of things that we wanted to do because of it. Now we’re not going to leave a single door open just in case one gets through.
In response to these claims, the property’s rental agent, Belvoir Estates, said, “We have arranged a pest control tour of the property for Monday; however, this was canceled by the tenants.
The home of Amie Kavanagh and Shane Brown
(Image: GrimsbyLive / Donna Clifford)
“After a long search we found someone who can hopefully go to the property tomorrow (Thursday, August 26th) to solve this problem.
“We are doing what we have to do to help the tenants with the situation as best we can.”
A North East Lincolnshire Council spokesman said, “While we cannot discuss the details of individual cases, we can confirm that our officials worked with the landlord and tenant to arrange a pest control visit.
“We have arranged a visit to the property for an inspection and will continue to work with both parties to make sure this happens.”
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