Horrified woman wakes up to find rat in her bed 'chewing and licking her toes'
A woman was horrified to wake up to a rat inside her own bed, chewing and licking her toes.
Pest control boss Sean Whelan has spent years travelling around parts of the country dealing with various infestations. The managing director of HPC247 Whelan Pest Prevention is based out of Fareham, Hampshire, and warned that the number of rat infestations in social housing is "only going to get worse".
But he has recalled some of the nightmare scenarios he’s been called out to help with. But the very worst, the 58-year-old said involved one lady having a rude awakening. It comes as British homes are set to see a surge of rats following bin delays and floods.
He said: "We've had a lady who had woken up and a rat was chewing and licking her toes at the end of her bed." The scenario will give many Brits nightmares, but sadly Mr Whelan’s experiences don’t end there. Other Brits have had mice on their pillows next to their heads as rats have also come up through someone's toilets - whilst they were sat on the loo.
He continued: "We also had someone else call in with a mouse in a pillow next to the person's head. We've had rats coming up through toilets while the person's been sat on the toilet and ran through their legs. It causes immense stress to people who find them in their homes. We have times when we have to sit the person down to try to calm them down. So, it can cause incredible stress and anxiety. It can have a massive effect on people's mental health when you've got rats scurrying in the walls."
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
Even though he said some landlords are failing to recognise their obligations, he added the issue is nuanced and it can depend on the specific circumstances.
He said: "If you moved into a property tonight and after two days, you noticed a rat run across the front room, that is 110 per cent the responsibility of the landlord. However, if a property with no previous history of rodent infestation suddenly becomes affected, responsibility may fall on the tenant."
As with most things, it is better to be safer than sorry - so Sean offered some advice to tenants to avoid a little four-legged surprise. He said: "We would always advise that if you are a tenant, you should go around the property and do a visual check of the property, have a little look under the boards to see if there's any holes or any areas that a mouse or a rat could get through, or get a pest controller to survey you and send the reports to the landlord.
"So you might not get a rat for a couple of years, but if the conditions outside a property attract rats, like the bins aren't collected, and the rats suddenly start to move and they come in, if you didn't do that check two years previous in that period, the landlord could reject doing anything."
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