Rats the size of cats destroyed my home, forcing my family to move out

BristolWorld

A man has torn his house - aptly called Wits End - apart in a quest to rid it of a huge rat infestation he says has turned the place into a "biological health hazard".

Transcript

00:00I've lived in there for 10 years, in this property for 7.

00:02Yeah, so about 2 years ago the neighbouring property was sold, and now the current owner

00:11rents it out and the person occupying the property lives in what I can only describe

00:17as squalid conditions.

00:21And yeah, during the recent hot spell of weather we noticed a lot of what we can only describe

00:27as noise, smell, rodent activity.

00:31So we called pest control who looked into it for us and he said it was one of the worst

00:39domestic rat invasions he's seen in nearly 30 years of service, and it's ruined our lives.

00:46We've had to move out, rent somewhere privately at our own expenditure, plus continue to pay

00:51the mortgage.

00:52And as you can see, what should be a kitchen is anything but, it's a nightmare, an ongoing

00:59nightmare.

01:00Next door they're coming in via a compromised drain, so the drain has been displaced following

01:05a survey, or we've noticed following a survey, they come in via the sewers into the neighbouring

01:11property where they have a food source from 4 big dogs.

01:16So they've got the perfect environment, they just live openly in the property, and I think

01:21the pest control said following, so they've come in via the roof insulation on our extension

01:28and caused considerable damage, thousands and thousands of pounds worth of damage.

01:33People are frantic, they want drain surveys, they want answers, they want the situation

01:38contained which at the moment it's not being handled.

01:42We reached out to the owner of the property yesterday and had no response, and obviously

01:46we're looking now at legal action to move things forward.

01:50Pest control said it could take 8-12 weeks to control the situation with the vermin,

01:55but then it's probably going to take 6 months in order to get this back to what it should

01:59be like.

02:02It might take longer if we have to end up in court to recoup what we've lost.

02:06Yeah, we've got 3 young children, and for them, the disruption to their routines, even

02:14the small things, the extra journey time on school runs, it all makes a difference, and

02:21this is their home, this is where they should feel safe.

02:24OK, so, I just opened up Henry, and this is the fourth Henry, I'll show you the contents,

02:36it's pretty gross.

02:44There's pieces.

03:02Literally thousands of droppings, and you can see the extent.

03:09So, over here is where they get access from the neighbouring property, that's the party

03:17wall, and then this was a run, this was a run, they are above the cellar, it's actually

03:24destroyed most of it, you can see we're home to several flies because it just smells like

03:31death and disease in here, which, yeah, it's a disaster.

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