Mice have driven us out of our home, says pregnant Manchester mum

A pregnant mum and her young daughter have been forced to leave their home and stay in temporary accommodation because of a mice infestation.

Carly, 35, and her three-year-old daughter have moved out of their flat on Epsley Close, just outside Manchester city centre.

She said she had battled the infestation at Meredith Court for nearly “two years” and it had “got worse and worse as time has gone on”, with mice ending up in her bed.

Her housing association, One Manchester, has apologised for the infestation and confirmed it had temporarily re-housed Carly and her daughter.

“I laid on the couch once and it ran up my leg,” she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Carly complained to One Manchester which asked Manchester City Council’s pest control team to tackle the problem.

When that did not work, housekeeper Carly took matters into her own hands.

She said: “Pest control came out and they put out the white boxes and they didn’t work.

“I’ve spent money on the glue pads, I had to use 36 in one week once.”

The pads catch mice with an adhesive and cost Carly £11 for a pack of 12 – an amount she said she could “go through in one morning”.

Carly said the only solution proposed by the housing association was to ask pest control to repeat the process again, prompting her to stay with family and in “hotels” to get away from the mice.

A One Manchester spokesperson said it was “truly sorry” about the distress caused and added that it was “committed” to resolving the situation as quickly as possible and was working with the council.

“We understand how upsetting a pest infestation can be especially for a pregnant mother,” they said.

“As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we liaised with the council’s pest control team to arrange multiple visits.”

Carly has been offered temporary accommodation “until we can investigate the matter and carry out any treatments that may be required”, they added.

Manchester City Council said it was aware of some rodent issues at Meredith Court and would work on improvements with One Manchester “that could help manage potential infestations in the long term”.

Living with a potential infestation was “deeply unpleasant”, it said, adding that the pest control team had been in touch to discuss further treatment options.