Children have nowhere to play and residents can't sleep at night due to rat invasion
Residents have been left suffering fear and anxiety after their gardens became infested with rats
Families living on a Leyland estate say children have been unable to play outside for almost two month due to an infestation of rats.
South Ribble Borough Council is investigating reports of the rat invastion after residents raised concerns about rodents running about in the gardens and communal areas.
Families living on the Greystones and Robinhey estate in Moss Side, say they have been living with the problem for almost two months with some properties calling out pest control to deal with the problem.
Resident Danielle Lancaster first contacted Accent Housing on June 5 after seeing a rat outside of her house.
Ms Lancaster said: "The week prior, I did have a rat run past me down the side of my house, and I just thought it was just a random one that had got lost somewhere. Then a week later I actually saw them running through my garden."
She said she was initially advised that Accent Housing did not deal with pest problems unless they were inside and she was told to contact South Ribble Borough Council instead.
She said the council attended the following week and has continued baiting her garden every two weeks.
Danielle added that she is aware of at least six neighbouring properties that have also received treatment.
Later she was told Accent Housing did deal with pests and that works had been planned, budgeted for and confirmed.
However, she said she stopped receiving updates when she asked when the work would begin.
After raising further concerns with Accent Housing, Ms Lancaster submitted a stage one complaint on July 17.
She said an Accent Housing surveyor visited the estate on July 22 before arranging for the housing association's pest control contractor, Rentokil, to attend the following day.
Rentokil carried out a one-hour emergency site survey and discovered a minimum of 15 active rat breeding burrows in the communal areas.
She said the contractor also identified a sewer breach around two metres from her fence line and recommended that communal bushes and ivy be cut down immediately to expose further burrows and allow drainage teams access.
The latest development comes after Environmental Health Manager for South Ribble Borough Council Matthew Cropper inspected the site today as part of the council's ongoing enquiries.
Ms Lancaster was told a broken inspection chamber beside her property's fence line was acting as a "super highway for rats" escaping from the sewer network.
She said he also told her the surrounding overgrown vegetation should be cut back to ground level to allow access to underground nests for treatment.
The council say if work is not carried out by Ascent within a reasonable timeframe, the South Ribble could undertake the work itself and recover the costs.
A council spokesperson added that while its enquiries are ongoing, it would not comment further on the cause of the reported activity, the outcome of its investigations or whether any formal enforcement action may be necessary.
Ms Lancaster said: “My anxiety has shot up. I'm worried about letting the dog out because they're in our garden.
"My children now don't have a safe area to play because they can't use the back garden because of the rat infestation that's going on.
“They can't use the front communal area because they're now burrowing into the front communal area.
"I'm hardly sleeping, constantly refreshing my phone, checking for any updates, checking for any emails. Nothing's moving for me.
“Every minute that goes by potentially it's another breeding minute underground or in the bushes. It's not okay."
The nesting area is situated on the route regularly used by families walking to Moss Side Primary School on Paradise Lane. Danielle says rats have spread into front and rear gardens.
An Accent Housing spokesperson said the housing association first became aware of reports of rat activity on the Greystones and Robinhey estate in June and has since been working with specialist contractors and South Ribble Borough Council to investigate the issue.
The spokesperson said Accent had commissioned specialist pest control inspections, carried out site visits through its maintenance team, raised pest control work orders and commissioned grounds inspections to assess vegetation and communal areas.
They added that before permanent works could proceed, Accent needed to establish land ownership and maintenance responsibilities, as some affected areas were owned or maintained by other organisations.
"We understand residents' concerns and appreciate the impact reports of pest activity can have,” they explained.
“We take these reports seriously and are continuing to work with specialist contractors and partner agencies to investigate the cause of the issue and agree the appropriate action. We will update those affected."
South Ribble Borough Council said: "We would like to reassure residents that the increase in reported rat activity is confined to a specific area of Moss Side. This is a localised issue affecting a small number of properties and there is no reason for residents in other parts of South Ribble to be concerned.
"We will continue to monitor the situation and take any action considered appropriate within our powers."