St Albans mum living with 'nightmare' rat infestation

Rachel Stone lives with her 11-year-old son and two-year-old daughter in a property at Charrington Place, managed by Hightown Housing Association.

She said: "Living with the rats in my walls has been an absolute nightmare. You can hear them squeaking, gnawing on the wall cavities and running around in the early hours of the morning.

"Hightown don't seem to care - to even get them to come and look at the situation I had to get Daisy Cooper (MP for St Albans) involved."

The 30-year-old has been dissatisfied with the response, being told that the rats will be killed and then decay in her walls, creating a smell that was described to her as "horrendous".

A spokesperson for Hightown said it has "used pest control services to treat the area", and will "be sealing up any identified entry points to the outside of the building".

Rachel Stone has raised concerns over rats the walls of her home (Image: Rachel Stone)

They added that "rats cannot enter the property".

Despite this, the situation is having an impact on Rachel's mental health.

She explained that "there's nights where I can't get to sleep until three or four in the morning" due to the "uncomfortable" sound of rats scurrying, fighting and chewing at walls and cables in the house.

Rachel also claims her request to the housing association temporarily rehoused was "ignored".

"I feel so drained all the time, and the end of the day brings me stress and anxiety. I feel like my house is becoming a biohazard," she added.

She accuses Hightown of being "ignorant and difficult to communicate with".

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A spokesperson for Hightown said: "We appreciate this issue has been distressing for our resident and are sorry for the inconvenience caused. Our team has been working to resolve this as a priority.

"We have used pest control services to treat the area around the building twice and will shortly be sealing up any identified entry points to the outside of the building.

"After inspecting the resident's property, we have confirmed there is no entry to their flat.

"We have been in regular contact with our resident and we will continue to work with her and pest control services to address this situation which has unfortunately arisen due to circumstances outside of our control."