Animal

Mum flees rat-infested home as son fights rodent infection


Doctors advised the family not to go back to the house (Picture: MEN Media)

A mum has been forced to sofa surf at friends’ homes after her house was overrun by rats.

Margaret Aitken, 44, says her 20-year-old son was rushed to hospital on Thursday with a viral infection linked to rat faeces.

Rodents had run amok all over the house, gnawing boxes, lotions, TV remotes, medication and children’s dummies.

Margaret, her son, and 67-year-old mum Jan Sidwell fled the three bedroom home after doctors told them continuing to live their would damage their health.

And property managers Giroscope have not offered the family temporary accommodation since leaving the property in Hull on Thursday.

Margaret said: ‘It’s just disgusting – no one should be paying out £720-a-month and be living like this.

‘People say about how good Giroscope are and everything, but at the end of the day, we’re here there and everywhere. We don’t have anywhere to go – I can’t live in that house.’

Rat droppings were found all over the three bedroom house (Picture: MEN Media)
Margaret’s son was hospitalised due to an infection linked to rat faeces (Picture: MEN Media)
She says she was ‘sickened’ that the family was not offered temporary accommodation (Picture: MEN Media)

She says the rat infestation left her son bed-ridden for three days last week after he allegedly came into contact with rat droppings at home.

Margaret claims staff at Hull Royal Infirmary advised her not to go back to the house.

She says the infestation has progressively worsened over the past few months after she initially noticed holes and rat droppings inside the property.

The vermin targeted rubber items within the property, stripping all of the buttons from a TV remote and chewing the old dummies of Margaret’s dummies.

But the property managers say they have done everything they can (Picture: MEN Media)
The rats had a penchant for rubber, chewing all the buttons off a TV remote (Picture: MEN Media)

Margaret said: ‘It’s just disgusting. I just feel the house is not fit for purpose.

‘I was so shocked that the doctors said we should not go back to that house.’

She was due to meet with environmental health officials who will decide if the house is habitable.

Margaret says she was left ‘sickened’ at Giroscope’s refusal to offer temporary accommodation.

But the west Hull based charity-funded organisation say they have done everything they can to fix the problem.

Margaret has been crashing at friends’ houses as she wont to back to her home (Picture: MEN Media)
Several holes have since been filled in to stop rats getting back into the property (Picture: MEN Media)

They say hired contractors to clear the place last week and have filled several holes to try and stop the rats getting back inside.

A spokesperson added: ‘We believe the householder has also got Hull City Council to go down to the property and sort it out.

‘We have filled a series of holes at the property so the rats hopefully cannot get back inside.

‘We have done everything we can try and do, but there is a problem in particular with that street with pest control and that is all we can do.





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