OVERRUN BY RATS
Young mum terrified to return to home where vicious vermin wreaked havoc
A Hamilton mum says she has been forced to flee her rat-infested home.
Charlene Macfarlane claims the vermin have destroyed her carpets, flooring, skirting boards and doors in the South Lanarkshire Council property.
The 20-year-old, of Elm Bank Crescent in Burnbank, was living in constant fear before being moved to temporary accommodation.
However, the council say that the mum-of-two must now return to the rat-ridden house.
Charlene said: “I can’t go back. The rats are still scurrying around and have burrowed holes in the floor.”
A Hamilton mum-of-two says she has been forced to flee her ratinfested council home.
Charlene Macfarlane, of Elmbank Crescent in Burnbank, told us she has been placed in temporary accommodation after rodents chewed through her carpets and burrowed holes in her flooring.
The distraught 20-year-old, who has an intense fear of vermin, says she “can’t take anymore” and that almost everything she owns is going in the bin.
Charlene explained: “Around four months ago, I started to notice signs of carpets being chewed and slowly there was damage to every room, including holes chewed in the floors, gnaw marks on the skirting boards and wood and carpet shavings all over the place.
“I contacted the council and they came out and put bait down. Then I found five holes leading into the back of the house which is, I’m guessing, how the rats are getting in, yet no-one at the council seemed interested in looking at them.
“Instead they laid some bait then claimed at a later date that none of the bait had been eaten so therefore the problem doesn’t exist. However, I put down a trap myself and within two days there was a rat in it.
“The whole house is destroyed and I can’t take anymore. I actually fear that everything I own will be for the bin as I’ve no clue where they have been and what they’ve clambered over. There will be rat urine everywhere.”
Charlene also claims the local authority have now told her that her time in temporary accommodation has to come to an end and that she is being forced to move back into the rat-infested property.
She added: “I’ve been back and forward to the property to investigate and it’s still rife. My neighbour has also told me she has seen rats in the garden and a bin man also told me he saw them.
“To make matters worse, the council now say I have to move out of the temporary accommodation and back to the property.
“I have refused for the sake of my children, who are just three and one, but they are adamant.
“Last week I reported to environmental health that there was scratching coming from a cupboard. I just want a rat-free home for myself and my children.”
South Lanarkshire Council’s executive director of Housing Services, Daniel Lowe, said: “We have been working with our colleagues in Environmental Services in response to reports of a rodent infestation within a property at Elmbank Crescent, Hamilton.
“Treatment has now taken place and we will now carry out any remedial work required in the property. In the interim, alternative accommodation has been provided.”