Southampton: Mum desperate to move from rat infested house

Tracy Loader is at the end of her tether and wants to move “as soon as possible.”

The 42-year-old mum-of-three has lived in the Lumpy Lane property, managed by Abri, since 2017.

She said there have been issues since that time, but nothing has been done to resolve it.

'Disgusting'

Tracy Loader (Image: Maya George, Newsquest)

Tracy, a former carer, said: “There were issues from the day we moved in, and we had mice in the house all the time.

“I even found a dead mouse in the back of the fridge freezer – it was disgusting. You could hear them in the kitchen.

“I had to beg Abri to remove the kitchen, but a new kitchen didn’t stop them from getting in.”

The family got a few months of reprieve in 2019 until the rodents returned with a vengeance.

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Tracy said: “My youngest son kept saying he could hear something in the walls at night.

“I thought he was exaggerating, but one night he woke me up and told me to listen.

“I did, and it was horrendous. We could hear the rats and mice in the walls and they got into the ceiling.

“It got progressively worse and it took Abri around four months to call pest control.

“But now it’s a vicious cycle of them being called out, putting bait under the kitchen units, leaving, then coming back again.

“But the rats aren’t in the units, they’re in the ceiling, which they apparently can’t get to.

“Abri said they can’t find a point of entry but I believe the rats come in from underneath the house, as there’s no obvious way they can get in.”

'A nightmare'

A dead rat found outside Tracy's home (Image: Tracy Loader)

The noise got so bad that one weekend, Tracy booked a hotel for the family to stay in.

She even bought blow-up beds to use when staying at a relative's house.

But now she is calling on Abri to help her to move, even if that means downsizing from the three-bedroom home in Northam. 

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She said: “We have been through a nightmare.

“The noise is still so bad, and as soon as it starts, my kids become so upset.

“For a couple of nights, I had to sit up with my arm around my youngest son so he could get to sleep.

“It has got to stop. I want to move. I am not asking for anything special; I am quite happy to have a smaller house, I’ll sleep in a front room if I have to, but they have point-blank refused my request.

“We want to move as soon as possible. We have been waiting and waiting but nothing happens.”

'Fully investigate'

In response to Tracy’s concerns, Abri said it has been investigating the matter.

Jim Bruckel, head of customer partnership, said: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our highest priority. We take pest issues very seriously and are sorry for the inconvenience and upset the issue is causing our customer.

“We have been working closely with our customer and our pest control contractor to fully investigate this matter.

“Investigations so far have not identified any pests within the property, and following the recent survey by pest control, we will be carrying out an inspection of [the] property’s attic to be sure.

“Outside of the property, a recommendation to cut back overgrown bushes will be followed up and completed.

“We will also be visiting the area on Monday, January 30, to identify anything the pests may be attracted to outside the property.

“Following the outcome of our investigations, we will work with pest control to carry out any necessary treatments and preventative measures.”

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