A mum-of-two says she is living a nightmare after rats started running rampant in her house.

Jenny Ainscow, who lives on Padbury Way, says she has been dealing with rats for a few months after only moving in around 12 months ago.

She says that the situation has become so bad that she can hear the rats squeaking and moving around in the walls.

Jenny has a one-year-old daughter and a ten-year-old daughter, and rats often scurry in her 10-year-old’s bedroom, meaning she cannot sleep in her own room.

Jenny said: “It makes you feel dirty, and my children are now sleeping in my room.

“I am trying to get my one-year-old in a routine, but she is walking and could pick them up.

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“It’s horrible.

“We don’t know if they are in the bed or if they will run out, so I don’t even want to sleep.

“They are in every room, because you can hear them in the walls.”

Jenny did not know there was an issue with rats until she spoke to her neighbours who asked if she had “heard the rats”.

The Bolton News: Jenny continued: “It was in the middle of summer, and I found a dead rat in my back garden, and one outside the bin in the front garden.

“I am very clean and house-proud, but I could smell rotten food and I found a dead rat in the cupboard.”

Jenny says she has only been able to use one cupboard to store food, and she has had to throw food away because rats have chewed through things.

She says she wants all of the houses on her row to be treated with rat poisoning because she fears that if only one house is treated, then rats will just come back from someone else’s house.

Jenny said that when she spoke to Bolton at Home she was redirected to the council who asked her to pay for pest control, which she says she cannot afford to keep paying.

The Bolton News: It comes after Bolton Council revealed that the pest control service was set to become free from this month.

A spokesperson for Bolton at Home said: “We know rat and mice problems are distressing and we’ll always advise our customers on the most appropriate action to take.

“When Miss Ainscow contacted us about an issue with rats in February, we advised her to contact the council’s pest control team in line with our policy and the council’s guidance at the time.

“At the start of April, the council updated its guidance for social housing tenants to contact their landlord for issues relating to rodents.

“We’ve been in touch with Miss Ainscow to update her on these changes and we’ll work with her to address any repairs issues raised.”

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “The council is reintroducing a free pest control service for homeowners and private renters, anyone living in a housing association property should first speak to their landlord. 

“Where there is a persistent rat problem in a wider area, the council will take action by clearing any dumped waste in public areas and working with United Utilities to bait sewers.”

Jenny has since installed a camera to track the rats' movements, put down rat traps and poisoning herself, but says it is not working.

 

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