Residents claim rats that can climb walls, break into cars and chew through Christmas gifts, are taking over their block of flats.
Locals living in the Overland Mews apartment block, in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, say they have been terrorised by hundreds of disease-carrying vermin for the last two years. Now dozens of furious renters are withholding their monthly payments until their housing association steps in to rid them of their pest problem.
Abbie Snart, 25, who lives with her kids in one of its two-bed flats, said he’d endured sleepless nights after the rats got into her vehicle and set off the alarms. And she doesn't want to dump her rubbish any more after the feasting vermin took over the bin area, where she says they jump out at those who come close by.
She said: “We have small rats, medium rats and absolutely massive rats that are scary. They’re making their burrows in the mud. If you look at the front of the properties, all around the bin area, there’s mud patches and holes where they mate and have babies. We’ve had five cars damaged so far on the road, and I’ve personally had a seat belt completely chewed off my child’s car seat. I had to buy a new one.
“And they are always on the windowsills or climbing the walls, so people especially on the ground floor can no longer really open their windows. I went through a week or two of no sleep because my car alarm was going off every hour in the night when the rats were going in there. Every time I went to my car they’d be running around inside. It’s an infestation.”
'I'm so organised - I've already bought and wrapped presents for next Christmas'
Emmy Dean, who also lives on the street, said she had been forced to throw away Christmas gifts after the rats broke into her car and gnawed their way through them. She added: “It has been going on for two years, and it has been getting worse and worse. Some got in my car and chewed through Christmas presents we had bought.
The plague of rats is terrorising residents (Abbie Snart / SWNS)
They are regularly seen outside (Abbie Snart / SWNS)"Even the ones they didn’t chew through have had to be thrown away as they have rat urine on them. Losing the presents is financially crippling for us. We had hidden them there while our child was at home, and it was only one night.”
Abbie said she has lived with her kids, who are two and four years old, at the housing association-owned flat since July 2021, where she pays £550 per month in rent. And during this time, she has taken countless photographs and videos showing how the rats have slowly surrounded the three-storey block of flats. She now says residents live in fear each day that they’ll get into their homes while having to fork out to fix their cars after the rats inflict expensive damage.
She said: “I know it’s winter, so it’s not a massive issue. But because we can’t open the windows, there’s mould appearing. So that’s leading to a further issue. We cannot physically use the bin area safely and properly. Because there are honestly about 100 rats in there and that’s not exaggerating. So when you got to take rubbish, you’ve got rats running around your feet. You lift a lid and you’ve got another ten jumping out at you.
“The rats chewed through the break line of one of the neighbour's cars and they had to pay around £260, and they also have two young children. And I had my nan and grandad over, and they were scared to park in the car park to come and see me because they said they’d seen ten rats running around."
Abbie wrote to her housing association, Hyde Housing, to demand they address the problem, offer an apology and give her compensation for the cost of the damage. But a written reply from the group stated: “The pictures you sent do not show how the rats are getting into your vehicle and the damages do not appear to have been done by rodents. We will not be reimbursing you for the items you claimed to be damaged by pests and I do not uphold your complaint.”
Abbie said following the letter, dated December 1 this year, she has now decided to hold off paying her rent until the problem is dealt with. She said: “We are withholding our rent, which we’re within our legal right to do. We want to be reimbursed for the items we’ve had to pay for to be fixed, and I was looking for compensation for my treatment by Hyde. And we’d like an apology from Hyde.”
Adrian Addo, Property Team Manager at Hyde Housing said in response: “I’d like to apologise to our customers at Overland Mews for the issues they’re experiencing with rats – I know how distressing this can be. Please be assured that we’re aware of the problem and have been working with Peterborough City Council’s refuse department, our pest control contractor and our grounds maintenance team to address the issues.
“We have a full action plan in place. This includes removing hedges, as they’re used as hiding places for rats and conducting regular treatments including treating and filling in potential rat holes. We’ve also written to residents to advise them to dispose of refuse responsibly.”
A Peterborough City Council spokeswoman said: "We have previously been made aware of issues regarding overflowing bins in Overland Mews which was resolved after liaising with the housing association. "An officer from our environmental health team will visit the area to reassess the situation and will work with the housing association to take any appropriate action."
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