MUM’S NIGHTMARE IN ‘HOUSE OF RATS’
Pest plague leaves tots traumatised A rainy day can cost us millions
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A HORRIFIED mother moved upstairs with her children after the ground floor of their home was overrun by rats.
Janine Adams, 29, said her fouryear-old daughter was so traumatised she stopped eating for two days.
The mum-of-three – a full-time carer for her disabled nine-month-old son – caught five in one night after setting traps.
Terrified
But she said she could not afford pest controllers to drive out the rest, which have been plaguing her for five months. Janine said: “It’s a nightmare. I’m terrified to go in the kitchen. I started having heart palpitations when I was making a bottle for my two-year-old.
“I have to sit on the counter whenever I go in there.
“I have four traps in the kitchen. I caught five in one night. I have to keep the lights on because I’m so scared, which costs a lot of electricity.
“We have to live upstairs. My daughter was so scared she wouldn’t eat.”
Janine, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, said her housing ® association and council said she would have to fund pest control herself.
The mum added: “I’m stressed to death. I feel like jumping in the Mersey.”
Local councillor Pat Cleary said: “There is no public assistance for people in this situation. There needs to be some form of funding when a house is not habitable. It’s not acceptable.” Last night Ian Gregg, of Riverside housing association, promised to pay up. He said: “Given the severity of Ms Adams’ situation, as an exception we will cover the cost of pest control services so the matter can be resolved.” Wirral Council declined to comment. BRITS fork out an average £315 each on umbrellas during their lifetime.
We buy 2million brollies a year and manage to lose or break 300,000 of them.
Last year a total of £14m was splashed out on new ones, a survey found.
That is a rise of 40% from eight years ago.
About 40,000 umbrellas a year are left on buses, trains, in taxis and on the London Underground.
A further 45,000 are discarded in shops and cafes, with 210,000 ditched after the spokes break.
And 11% of brolly owners even admit using one they have found abandoned.
Nine in 10 Brits check the weather forecast before leaving home, the poll for Studio.co.uk found.
A spokesman for the retailer said: “We always see an upsurge in demand for brollies at this time of year as winter storms and gales start to hit.
“However, the umbrella is no longer regarded as an emergency purchase, it has become an accessory that people like to show off.
“There is so much choice while at the same time they have to be practical and sturdy to withstand the British weather.” A THREE-foot gnome stolen from a hair salon in Doncaster, South Yorks, eight months ago, has been returned. A man has been arrested over the theft.
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