Scots family at wits' end as rats 'terrorise' autistic daughter and chew her clothes

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Scots family are pleading with their local council to fix a vermin problem they say is making their lives a misery.Caitlin Leadbitter, from Edinburgh, said her partner had to kill a rat in front of her autistic daughter after it tried to attack them in the flat.The mum from the Dumbryden area of the city, said she has "pleaded" with Edinburgh City Council to fix the issue in the family's home.As well as the vermin, Caitlin told Edinburgh Live that mould and leaks have plagued the property since 2020, and a temporary home they were offered was just as bad.She claims the council told her she would have to declare her three-year-old daughter and herself homeless to be eligible for a new home.The 24-year-old said: “We have had problems with mould and leaks since we moved in around six or seven years ago but the rats became an issue in 2020 after work on the building roof was carried out.“It started to worsen during Covid but the council kept telling us that nothing could be done because it was not an emergency.

We could hear them building tunnels and scratching under the floorboards and walls.“I think some of the rats have been getting in through gaps that were left by whoever built the flat.

We have a circle pipe coming through a square hole and large gaps where radiator pipes come through the floorboards.“We had a rat try to attack us one night.

My partner had to kill it in front of my daughter.”Caitlin said when she has asked for help from the council, contractors have cancelled on her or "brushed aside" her concerns.