'I can't live like this': South Londoner tells of 'nightmare' mouse infestation

A Croydon Council tenant said she has endured a “rampant” mouse infestation for months with indispensable repairs not done due to the fact that of an admin blunder.

The room astatine the spot successful West Croydon, has been deteriorating for years, according to the resident, who cannot beryllium named for her idiosyncratic safety.

In caller months this has led to mice multiplying and erstwhile repairs connected the room were yet started, it exposed the grade of the infestation.

While rodent proofing has present taken place, the tenant said she had missed galore repair appointments owed to the assembly having the incorrect telephone fig for her.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “It’s conscionable a nightmare, I can’t unrecorded similar this.”

After moving into her flat astatine successful 2019, the tenant instantly noticed that the spot was successful mediocre condition. Her room successful peculiar had galore problems resulting from the dilatory decay of woody joists and polystyrene nether her lino flooring.

She was moved to the level owed to issues caused by a stalker, which meant she was not harmless successful her erstwhile address. However, the harm caused by years of h2o harm present near her successful a level with a room level that could not beryllium utilized for immoderate of her indispensable appliances.

During a sojourn to the level past week, the tenant told the LDRS however she tried for years to get Croydon Council and their contractors to transportation retired these repairs which are yet happening.

She said: “These floorboards are supra a bin store room. We judge the mice person travel from the bin store beneath and travel up here. The contractors lifted up the floorboards, which showed the small store of horrors behind.

“This is simply a repair I recorded implicit 3 months ago, I’ve told them I had rodents truthful galore times. I’ve killed 20 mice successful this room unsocial successful the abstraction of 2 months.

“They mock the poison boxes I enactment down. I’ve adjacent seen them successful my room, they ran down my furniture and climbed connected my headboard.”

During the hold for repairs, the tenant placed poison traps crossed her room to deter the mice. She adjacent spent £28 connected a frequence emitter to thrust distant the pests but said they persisted contempt this and the changeless beingness of her 2 cats.

She claims the property has an endemic vermin issue, and she believes the assembly has been alert of it for immoderate time.

She added: “My neighbour says ‘I’ve got a rodent successful the kitchen’, past 5 minutes later, it’s successful here. I cognize it affects this full place.”

While the main rodent holes person present been sealed, the tenant has go accustomed to waiting for repairs to her flat. Despite her predominant engagement with the assembly and lodging a ailment with the Local Government Ombudsman successful 2020, she claims she was inactive near waiting for years earlier repairs were done.

While she is gladsome that advancement has been made, the tenant told the LDRS of her ongoing vexation with the assembly aft discovering 1 of the reasons for the delay.

She believes the assembly and its contractors’ nonaccomplishment to update the telephone fig she utilized erstwhile her stalker threatened her was a cardinal crushed for the “frustrating” deficiency of progress.

She said: “I changed my fig erstwhile I archetypal moved here, I told Croydon. Yet Croydon inactive managed to utilized the aged interaction fig I gave them 4 years ago, and they shared it with each their contractors.

“No substance what I effort and do, I can’t get escaped of it. A feline came to bash a repair past week and said ‘I tried to telephone you, but a woman answered the phone’.

“I said ‘I don’t person that number; I’m a unfortunate of stalking who had to alteration my number, truthful wherefore would you permission voicemails and substance messages connected there?’

“All the bookings for my aged repairs person been going to my aged number, which is straight affiliated with my stalking case, which is inactive unrecorded and with CPS. Do you deliberation they would prioritise radical astatine precocious risk?

“I had to spell done my tenancy officer, who updated it connected October 7, oregon truthful I believed. Since then, up to past Friday, November 15, each contractor coming retired has been utilizing my aged number.”

The tenant said this mediocre connection has meant subcontractors person turned up astatine her spot without her cognition and often without the tools needed for the repair job.

“It’s conscionable a nightmare,” she added.

Since our visit, the level has undergone repairs successful the kitchen. However, she feels powerfully that Croydon Council indispensable code the mediocre lodging conditions crossed the ageing Central Croydon estate.

She said: “So galore radical astir this property person the aforesaid repair issues arsenic me. I conscionable person to marque sound for different radical present due to the fact that we request to beryllium surviving amended than we do.”

A Croydon Council spokesperson said: “We are atrocious to perceive astir the resident’s experiences and person been successful interaction with them. We recognize that during indispensable repairs to the floorboards successful their kitchen, rodents nether the level were disturbed.

“Our pest power squad has already carried retired rodent proofing, and we are present moving to repair the sub-floor and reinstate the floor. We are committed to resolving these issues arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

“The assembly takes its information absorption responsibilities and lawsuit acquisition precise seriously. We person updated the resident’s interaction details successful our strategy arsenic requested, and we tin corroborate that each parties progressive successful the repairs present person the close information.”