Council house tenants are being terrorised by the rodents with them scurrying through their walls, cupboards, attics and kitchens
Neighbours Janeva Grimmick, 27, and Christina Lee, 32, who have a rat infestation on their street in North Shields(Image: Chronicle Live)
Several North Shields neighbours have spoken out about their “living nightmare” dealing with a rat infestation at their homes. The three residents have been in contact with North Tyneside Council since they first saw the rodents in early March.
The residents believe that ongoing construction work nearby has disturbed a group of rats, causing them to move towards their homes via the drainage system. This has caused the rats to get into their walls, cupboards and lofts of the houses.
Janeva Grimmick, 27, who lives in the street with her partner and four kids, is living with mobility issues and she says her mental health has been “severely impacted” by their ordeal. She claims she can hear the rats “constantly” and was shellshocked when she found one in her kitchen sink.
She said: “When I saw the live rat in the sink I couldn’t believe it, I just screamed and ran out of the house. I’d never seen anything like it before.
“I haven’t been able to sleep as they have destroyed everything, ripped it all to pieces. We have had to start again with a lot of things.
“We have had to go out and buy things ourselves to stop the rats from getting in, which is just an extra expense for us. We have nothing left in our loft as there were a horrific amount of droppings in there. It is impacting our electricity which could be a danger, so it is a terrible situation to be in.”
For Sam Robinson, 30, who lives on the road with her nine-year-old boy, the electricity problems have been worse, and she has just two working plugs downstairs in her home. Her son is autistic and he can’t sleep in his room without any power because he is unable to have his night light on.
Sam told ChronicleLive: “You can hear the rats running up and down the walls. It is just awful and it is making me mentally exhausted. The loft hatch is in my son’s room, and that was full of droppings so he wants to be in there even less because of that as well.
“We’ve not had proper electricity for over a month and are having to make do in any way that we can with extension cables. We can’t use any appliances, it is honestly a living nightmare. My dad is coming to stay all the time as I don’t want to sit downstairs at night on my own, so it is just not a liveable situation.”
Christina Lee, 32, lives with her three children, one of whom has cystic fibrosis. After hearing noises in the loft, she soon started to hear similar sounds in the walls. It was at this point she was in the same position as her neighbours.
She added: “When other people here were complaining about the rats, it wasn’t long before I started to hear things in my house as well. I have been worried about putting poison down as I have eight cats so I’d be worried that if they caught one of them. It could make them ill as well.
“It’s awful being able to hear them running around. I’m not sleeping and I feel like there is nothing that I can do at the moment.
“I’m sick and tired of this situation, we all are really, and hopefully something can be done about it as we shouldn’t be having to live like this.”
Peter Mennell, Director of Housing and Property Services, said: “We have been actively supporting the affected tenants and apologise for the impact this situation has had on them. Our pest control team attended every property, carried out inspections, discussed household‑specific solutions and identified drainage issues.
“Repairs were completed to nearby drains and manholes to prevent further access and reduce the risk of re-entry. In line with recognised best practice for pest control, each property was offered rodenticide treatment.
“At the time, residents chose not to proceed with this option and preferred to use their own traps. This council‑provided treatment remains available should they wish to take it up, and our team can usually attend on the next working day.”
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