Parents of a newborn baby are living in fear that she will be bitten by a rat, as they claim their council flat is infested with the vermin.
Daniella and Ricardo Buswell brought baby Faith home to their Birmingham home after she was born on Friday, December 20 .
But after returning home with their new bundle of joy, mum Danielle, 24, was horrified when she spotted a rodent in the kitchen.
"This will be our first Christmas with our baby girl and we're sharing it with a family of rats," the worried mum-of-two told Birmingham Live .
The family, who have another daughter aged five, moved into the flat in September and discovered rats gnawing through bin bags outside, but they only infiltrated their home last month.
Dad-of-two Ricardo said their eldest daughter is afraid to leave her room, while he struggles to sleep at night as the rats roam around their kitchen and eat their food.
The 30-year-old added: "I'm constantly worrying about the rats. My daughter won't go in the kitchen and won't come out of her bedroom.
"I don't want to sleep because of the night time that's when they get into the house. If you go into the kitchen they're behind the fridge.
"I'm concerned the most about, when I've got the baby's dummy and clothes, blanket, bottles, because it's a newborn, it could be harmful to the baby.
"I just want them [the council] to stop the rats from coming in."
The family is living in temporary accommodation - which they say they had to accept after their private landlord wanted their former house back.
"When we moved in, the first day of staying there we saw them outside. We got told by the neighbours as well to be careful of the rats," Mr Buswell added.
The couple were happy with their flat and their daughter had finally settled into a school after living in various hotels.
They contacted the council who sent pest controllers to try various solutions but to no avail.
Birmingham City Council is said to be due to come out again on Thursday, January 9.
A spokeswoman for the council said: “Pest control officers have baited the kitchen and garden twice in the past six weeks.
"Council officers are working with the family and doing all that they can to tackle this problem.”
