A mum wants to "knock down and rebuild" her house which is so overrun with rats that she hears scurrying even when she's not home.
Becky Jackson, 27, and her two sons claim they have been sharing their home in Liverpool, Merseyside with the unwelcome fellow occupants for six years.
Now the mum of two says the situation has become so bad that the sound of them running around haunts her even when she's not there, leaving her too terrified to return.
"I am too scared to even go back to my house today — I just can't do it, it's too much." Becky told the Liverpool Echo.
She said: "I went to my sister's last night. I can't even sleep — I'm so used to hearing rats, I started hearing noises in her house and she doesn't even have them.
"It used to be I could just hear them scurrying in the walls when I was at home, now I can hear them running around the house.
"I catch them on my camera in the kitchen when I'm in the living room.
"They're living here with me. Rats normally come out at night, but not these. These have got brave — they come out in the daytime."
In a bid to provide evidence to her housing association to get them to act on the situation, Becky has resorted to laying bait in front of cameras, capturing footage of the rats.
Now the mum, whose sons are just five and six, fears for the safety and health of her family.
She said: "I've been told [the housing association] can't see any evidence, so I thought 'let me bait my own house to get the proof I need'.
"I took a loaf out of the freezer to defrost and when I came back they had chewed through it so I knew I could bait them with bread.
"But they've become immune to the bait if that makes sense.
"They'll chew through anything though — I came home once and they had chewed through my children's vitamins. They don't care what they eat.
She added: "On my camera I saw a rat run down my fridge and two minutes later, my eldest child was stood where it had been.
"That rat could have bit him and they carry all kinds of diseases and stuff.
"One of my children is on the pathway to autism and ADHD and he'd sit there and play with the rats and poison.
"My children should be able to walk around their house without me worrying that they're going to get sick."
The property is managed by Cobalt Housing Association, who Becky claims have not done enough to solve the problem adding that they have sent someone out on two occasions.
Instead, she believes the situation is so bad that the house needs entirely rebuilding from scratch as she in unable to pinpoint the source of the issue.
A spokesperson for Cobalt Housing Association told the ECHO : "We are sorry for the problems Ms Jackson has been experiencing.
"We are already speaking with her, and a formal complaint has been raised and is being dealt with.
"We have been working with Ms Jackson and our contractors to address the problems, and employed an environmental and pest control services company to provide additional support to resolve the situation.
"A number of housing officers and surveyors have also attended the property to support the process.
"Unfortunately we cannot control vermin living outside in the local neighbourhood, however we will continue to do all we can to seek out any further access routes to eradicate problems, and already have future appointments for property works booked in to prevent any future access to Ms Jackson’s property."
