Rat infestation causing Northampton flat residents to ‘live on edge’ for six weeks only just being rectified

A rat infestation is causing residents of a Northampton block of flats to “live on edge”.

Pest control, who were independently called by a resident six weeks ago to the flats in Greenfield Avenue, Eastfield, said the rats had been there for around a year - three months prior to the residents beginning to hear and find traces of them.

After the visit from pest control, Danni Stanley was advised to contact Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH) for support.

Danni says she emailed NPH every week since she first got in touch around six weeks ago, but had not received communication from them until Monday (July 25).

NPH has now arranged for pest control to visit the property today (July 28).

Danni said: “My 10-year-old and twin eight-year-old daughters will not sleep in their rooms as they are so scared of the rats coming in at night, so we are all sleeping in my room.

“My eight-year-old daughter Aryia has additional needs, and change and disruption is not good for her.

“Knowing they are roaming around puts you on edge constantly - especially as it’s a health risk.

“The fact they’ve been in our cupboards makes us feel dirty and we don’t want to be in our home.”

The pest control who initially visited the property confirmed suspicions that the rats had “trashed” the loft space, entered the living spaces of the flats, and consumed food from their cupboards.

However, this is not the worst for Danni, as she currently cannot use her kitchen.

One day, she left her washing machine running while she went out and came back to her kitchen and hallway flooded.

An NPH plumber visited after this happened. Danni claims the plumber said the rats had made their way into the pipes and sewage system, however an NPH spokeswoman disputes this.

The issue has prevented her from using her kitchen, and she is relying on others to wash her and her children’s clothes.

Nikki McKenzie director for housing at NPH said: “We visited Miss Stanley when the leak in her home was reported, but we could not identify what was causing the problem.

“Our plumber supervisor will contact Miss Stanley and arrange a visit early next week to look into the issue further.”

Danni said: “I feel let down by NPH. I know the issue can’t be sorted overnight, but it was ridiculous that someone didn’t get in contact until Monday (July 25).”

Responding to Danni’s situation, Nicky also said: “I am sorry for the issues Miss Stanley is experiencing with rats in the property, and for the delay in us responding to her.

“I understand how distressing this is for the residents, and we have arranged for our pest control contractors to visit today (July 28) to survey the block and investigate the problem. We will work with the contractors to carry out any work necessary to resolve the issue.”

Pest control visited Danni’s property this afternoon. They baited out her loft to see where the rats will go, and are requesting full access to the property to conduct a full building survey and drain survey.