Mice chew through over £1,000-worth of furniture and clothes in Worksop home

The pesky little critters - which have now learned to outsmart the traps she lays for them - have chewed through a £400 carpet, two sofas, clothes and shoes.

Shannon James - who first noticed the furry trespassers in her Hardwick Road West kitchen in December 2019 - says the situation is ‘dreadful’ and is appealing for the council to ‘do something’.

Full-time mum Shannon told how the infestation was now so bad that the ground floor of her home was now ‘off-limits’ for herself and her three girls - aged one, three and five.

She said: “It’s awful - we don’t go in the lounge anymore because you see them scurrying about as soon as you open the door.

“I had 20 traps down in the living room but they’ve learned how to take the bait without setting them off now.

“My kids are too scared to get up in the night to go to the toilet downstairs and find them running around.”

However the frightened mum said large rats were also frequently seen in the street - with one caught on camera peering through Shannon’s window.

Shannon told how a neighbour - whose dog had caught five mice in one day - had dumped ‘a bag-full’ of the tiny pests in a skip she hired to throw out her ruined household items.

The frantic mum and neighbours in three other affected properties say the problem could have been caused by a drain left open after the toilet from a nearby outhouse was removed.

When Shannon was told by Bassetlaw District Council pest control was now the responsibility of private firms she called out a contractor.

However setting traps now had ‘no effect whatsoever’.

She said: “I just want the council to acknowledge there’s a bigger problem here.

“They're everywhere in my house - the lounge, the kitchen, under the floorboards and we’ve had enough.”

Alison Craig, Head of Housing at Bassetlaw Council, said pest control was no longer the council’s responsibility but it would try to resolve the situation.

She said: “We completely sympathise with Shannon’s situation and have spoken with the pest control expert that she has employed.

"As a result we do not believe the mice infestation is related to any of the neighbouring properties or any potential repairs at her or her neighbours homes.

“The council has not provided a pest control service since 2013 and since this time it has been the responsibility of the tenant or resident to deal with pest control in their home.

"Shannon first reported this issue to our housing team on September 11 and we have since been working with Shannon and her independent pest control company to establish how mice are getting into the property.

"We will also be sending one of our housing team to inspect the property to establish if any repairs are needed and to try to resolve the situation.“

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