A terrified family have been left fearful after being trapped in a "hell house" where rats run riot and eat their walls and floorboards.
Amie Kavanagh, 31, and Shane Brown, 34, from Grimsby, say they have spent the last four years tackling the rat infestation.
The couple live with their children Chloe, 11, Lilly-Rose, 9, and Harvey, 7 and say that just in the last week they have spent hours hunting out rats and have a spade in one hand all of the time just in case they see one.
All five members of the family have been sleeping the same room because the infestation is that bad, GrimsbyLive reports.
Despite continued efforts with their letting agent and North East Lincolnshire Council's environmental health team, the family say they have had enough and wish they could just "burn the house down."
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Amie said the past eight days have been horrific and added: "We've had four years worth of rats.
"This last week has been the worst by far though, they're coming up through the floorboards and the walls. it's got so bad that the whole family are having to sleep in the same room because the kids don't feel safe.
"I have severe Crohn's disease and I'm currently on immuno-suppressive medication so if I get bitten by a rat, I will die.
"Around the house, we've had to board up a number of holes in the kid's bedroom where the rats are getting through. They're popping up everywhere though, we spent an hour last night trying to catch one with our spade.
"In the past seven days, we've seen rats ranging in size, getting bigger as the days go on. They're coming up all over the house too, not just one place.
"When my brother visited the other day, he saw one looking at him on the stairs and it bolted, squeezing through a narrow gap in the floorboards.
"Even in the room we're sleeping in, there was a massive hole right next to my daughter where a rat came through.
"We're just covering anything and everything to try and stop this now. We spent £500 to decorate the house out of our own money in May and now we've had to stop the lot because of the rats.
"We haven't even been buying food for the cupboards this week because we don't know what they're nibbling on.
"On top of that, the shower is now leaking and the water is dripping on to the lights downstairs - the house is just a health hazard."
Partner Shane said: "I just want to burn the house down."
As the pair don't work as Amie is unable to due to her health and Shane being her carer for her and their autistic son Harvey, the pair cannot move.
Amie said: "I can't even bathe myself without Shaun's help and the chances of us getting a guarantor so we can move out is impossible, it's as if we're trapped.
"I do also think, why should I just leave? We've tried to do things ourselves and everything is ruined now.
"You only feel as if you're existing in the house. We don't sleep, we barely eat and we spend all our time catching rats.
"Because of the rats, our son's anxiety is through the roof and he only sleeps an hour a night.
"He's constantly asking whether or not it's safe to go into a room. Things have got that bad that we had to blockade the girls' bedroom because of how many rats there were."
Amie said that it isn't just the impact it has had on the house, but the emotional effects the ordeal has had on her and her children.
She said: "I just feel like a failure as a mum because of it. I can't give the kids a nice home whilst all this is going on.
"It's not normal to live like this, if we see one we can't stop until we catch it because we're so worried that it might bite one of us.
"It's really affected all our lives and we've had to give up on a lot of things we wanted to do because of it. Now we won't leave a single door open, just in case one can get through.
In response to these claims, the letting agent of the property, Belvoir Estates, said: "We arranged for pest control to visit the property on Monday; however, that was cancelled by the tenants.
"After much searching, we found someone who can hopefully go to the property tomorrow (Thursday, August 26) to sort out this issue.
"We're doing what we need to do to help the tenants as much as we can with the situation."
A spokesman from North East Lincolnshire Council said: “Whilst we cannot discuss the details of individual cases, we can confirm that our officers have worked with the landlord and the tenant to arrange for a visit from pest control.
"We have arranged a visit to the property to carry out an inspection, and will continue to work with both parties to ensure that this happens.”
