Merthyr Tydfil: The moment young mother filmed rat stealing a biscuit from bathroom floor

  • Credit: Media Wales

A young mother has spoken of the moment she filmed a rat stealing a biscuit from her bathroom floor claiming her house is "infested" with them.

Kia Selway, 23, said the Gurnos estate in Merthyr Tydfil, where she lives, is "overrun" with rodents and she has seen rats in "her attic, bedrooms, under the floor boards and in the walls."

Ms Selway, who's lived at the address for more than four years, said her daughter Aria, 5, had been eating biscuits in the bath recently and dropped one on the floor.

Kia said her daughter, Aria is scared and "won't even go to the toilet on her own anymore." Credit: Media Wales.

She then began recording as she spotted a rat appearing from behind the sink and picking up the biscuit before scurrying away.

She has also filmed different videos appearing to show the rodents in different parts of the house.

She said one morning she came downstairs to find two rats eating their way through a loaf of bread on her kitchen worktop.

Kia is currently unemployed and is a tenant of Merthyr Valleys Homes housing association.

The young mum said she can't prepare a meal "safely" as there are "droppings and urine on all the worktops." Credit: Media Wales.

The 23-year-old described how the rodents are in her attic, bedrooms, under the floor boards and in the walls.

"I can't even prepare a meal safely because there's droppings and urine on all my worktops."

She claimed that despite her housing association's previous attempts to "block up the holes" caused by the rats, the organisation does not have a designated pest control team.

In response, Merthyr Valleys Homes said that their teams "responded very quickly" after being called out in January.

It said teams carried out an inspection at Kia’s home and carried out areas that needed repairing over the past two weeks.

It went on to say that the "statutory duty for pest control falls to the local authority."

"Aria's now afraid to go to sleep at night because the rats are in her bedroom - they're in mine too", she said.

"She won't even go to the toilet on her own anymore. Meanwhile, I'm anxious that each time we eat we'll end up getting ill."

The housing association added, "The statutory duty for pest control falls to the local authority so Kia has done the right thing by involving them to carry out baiting at her home. To date we have been handling this issue in line with our repairs and maintenance procedures."However, Kia has now raised a formal complaint and therefore from today we will be following our complaints procedure. Of course, we will continue to work with Kia and other partners in the Local Authority to resolve this matter as quickly as possible."

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