Hull mum ‘bawled‘ after finding mice activity in kitchen
WOMAN LEFT FEELING HELPLESS
A HULL mum has described feeling helpless after she moved into her new council home and found the kitchen in a dilapidated and horrid state.
Courtney Seddon, 23, agreed to a house exchange with Hull City Council and moved into her new house in Calvert Road on October 5.
She was told by the council that it would be brought up to date and refurbished and therefore agreed to the move.
However, nearly a month later, despite saying she has called the council “every other day” to complain, she claims nothing has been fixed and Courtney says she feels frustrated by a perceived lack of care shown by the council.
She lives in the house with her two children, aged two and five, and says the conditions of the house are unsanitary and unsafe.
She said: “Within the first couple of weeks of moving in, I broke down outside the kitchen, absolutely, bawling my eyes out because it’s that bad.
“I can’t prepare a proper meal for my children on the countertops because there’s not enough room.
“In the whole kitchen, I’ve only got one functional drawer that can’t even fit a cutlery tray.
“The cupboard doors are all falling off and it even came to a point where a broken cupboard door fell on my son.
“He is thankfully OK now, but at that point, I was fuming because they have a duty of care to make sure the kitchen is safe.”
Courtney said since moving in, she has noticed several holes in the walls behind appliances that mice seem to be running in and out of.
When she called the council, she said they wanted to charge her £63 to get rid of them, so she has had to resort to taking them out herself.
“I was wary putting down rat poison because of my kids that are around, so I laid down traps and caught four mice since moving in.
“They were running around happily when we moved in, so they’ve clearly been here for quite a while.
“I knew it was an old kitchen, but I expected it to at least be safe.
“To be honest, I don’t know how it has passed the observation before they moved us.”
A spokesperson for Hull City Council said: “We were contacted by the occupant on Tuesday, October 19 with concerns regarding mice and the condition of kitchen units.
“An appointment has been made to mouse-proof the property.
“A representative from KWL, the council’s principal provider of housing maintenance, visited the home today. Any maintenance issues will be identified and appointments made to resolve any issues.”