A RAT infestation in a council house has left a mother-of-three at her wit’s end.

Ellen Speller, who lives in Swan Grove, Chappel, said she had been in touch with Colchester Council about the rats in her loft.

The vermin, Ms Speller explained, have been attracted to the road because of more than a dozen bin bags which have been left in the area.

The 39-year-old said the rats have been making their way into her loft by climbing up ivy which has been growing on the outside of her house.

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But the mum-of-three, who is raising a one-year-old, three-year-old, and 18-year-old, has claimed the council has dragged its feet, meaning the problem has only got worse.

She said: “There’s a man  who keeps 40 plus bin bags outside his house.

“The bins sit at the end of the road – there’s a load just sitting there.

“He just dumps them there and doesn't bother to take them out when the bin man comes, and now it's attracting rats."

Ms Speller then explained although council staff have visited her address to check the situation, they haven’t taken any action or tested the water, which she fears could be contaminated.

“I first called the council about it one and a half months ago.

“The rats are now crawling up the ivy and getting into the loft.

“The pest control bloke went up and said the place smelt quite bad, but someone should have tested the water by now – the water could be contaminated and I’ve no doubt got a load of dead rats in my loft.

“The council don’t want to own this and don’t want to admit they could be at fault here.”


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A spokesperson for Colchester Borough Homes said: “We take the health and wellbeing concerns of our tenants very seriously and are committed to resolving them as soon as possible.

“On 6 April, Miss Speller brought to our attention an issue with rats in her home, which she believed had displaced the cover of the water tank in the loft, resulting in her family experiencing health problems.

“As soon as we received her complaint, we took immediate action and requested that our repairs team send a contractor to secure the cover of the water tank. We also requested access to Miss Speller's home to carry out a water test.

“Although we believed the water tank did not provide drinking water, we investigated further and arranged for it to be removed.

“We have not received any reports of rubbish or rats affecting any of Miss Speller's neighbours but nevertheless have asked the local neighbourhood team to ensure all rubbish and black sacks are removed on collection day.

“The council’s Environmental Health team has now visited the property six times. Due to limited access issues in the loft, bait has been placed in trays around the edges of the hatch, and wax blocks have been put into inaccessible areas. A camera has also been placed in the loft to record any activity.

“Due to the family's concern regarding the use of rodenticide, an Environmental Health officer revisited the property this afternoon to remove any accessible bait. A review of the camera footage discovered no rodent activity present. Additionally, the tenant confirmed that they had not heard any rodents on the premises.”