A family in Farnworth is fed up with a yearly rat home invasion which they say has been going on for years.
Gareth Jennings and his wife and three children having been living in their Bolton at Home house on Parkfield Avenue for seven years.
He says that every winter time, rats have been getting in to take advantage of the warmth, but he has not been able to figure out how.
Around this time of year, the family gets stressed because the rats can be heard “day and night” in the ceilings, floors and walls.
Gareth said: “It’s horrid and my wife when she hears it, it sends her on a downer for the day.
“It’s quite disturbing.
“My son’s got disabilities and it scares him stiff. It’s quite loud in his bedroom and I have to convince him that they can’t get him.
“There’s 100 per cent a rat in the cabinet where our electricity meter is. I can hear it and to look in you can see the faeces and the damage.
“I can’t get to my meter because if I open that door properly the rat might get into my home.”
Gareth says after seeking professional help last year with the rats being poisoned they discovered dead rats.
He said:“Four weeks later there was horrid sewage smell in my son’s bedroom. It kept getting worse and we assumed it must be a dead rat under the floorboards.
“I had to rip up the floorboards and find the dead rat and dispose of it and then put the floorboards back.”
Richard Hargreaves, Bolton at Home’s group director of property maintenance, said: “I can sympathise with Mr Jennings and his family, and we will follow up with him to inspect the property and repair any issues where we can.
“Any previous work to remove rats at this property hasn’t been done by Bolton at Home, but if we discover a property maintenance issue allowing rats to gain access, we will repair it if needed and also deal with the rats.”
Gareth has since told The Bolton News that Bolton at Home have in fact sent people to inspect their property and work is being done in order to try and fix the problem.
If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at lewis.finney@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @lewisfinney18
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