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9th February 2018
08:02am GMT
A family in Northern Ireland have reportedly been forced out of their "dream home" after suffering through a severe rat infestation.
Shauna Gill moved into a house in Derry in with her husband and two children aged 12 and four, but moved out after discovering that her family was sharing the home with a LOT of rats.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mrs Gill said: “Three weeks after we moved into our house we noticed a really bad smell which we thought was a fault in the way the washing machine had been plumbed.
“When we lifted the floorboard we found a dead rat. After that there was nothing which was grand but we were decorating the house bit by bit and when we went to decorate an extension we noticed the same smell and I knew right away it was another rat.
“So many nights we lay listening to rats running around the attic and up and down in between the wall cavity. My two children were terrified and at times it was that bad we went to family to stay.
“We had to throw out everything that was in the attic including all the mementos of the children from they were babies and also our wedding album because you hear so much about the diseases you can get from where a rat has been.
“Eventually it got to be more than I could take, I had to think about my children so we left the house and are now staying with family until we can be re-housed."
Several houses in the Bogside area of Derry have complained about rats in their homes, and a multi-agency meeting has been set up to tackle the problem, consisting of Housing Executive, Environmental Health, Apex housing, NI Water and local community groups.
