Mum and children forced from York council home by rats

Lauren Wharton said she found a dead rat in her bath tub

A mother and her three children have been forced to flee their rat-infested council house.

Lauren Wharton, 29, said her home of four years, in York, was "like something out of a scary film".

The family has been moved to temporary accommodation three times while pest control has tried to tackle the rodents.

The city council has apologised and said it was "working to return them to their home as quickly as possible".

Miss Wharton said she is worried her children are going to get ill.

"I've got rats running around the house that are potentially bringing diseases in," she said, adding: "I literally think my children are going to die every day."

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She and her three children have been moved to temporary accommodation

Miss Wharton and her children, aged five, four and 18 months, first moved out of the house on Scarborough Terrace two and a half years ago because of the rats, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Most recently they were forced out on 10 July.

"Within minutes" of returning on 10 September, Miss Wharton said she discovered rat droppings in a kitchen cupboard.

Miss Wharton said she had found rats and their droppings in her kitchen

She now wants City of York Council to put her in a different house.

Mike Gilsenan, head of building services at the authority, said: "We're very sorry that this has happened and have apologised to the tenants.

"We had cleaned and secured their home immediately before they moved back.

"While we're assessing whether vermin is still present, we have moved the family back to the temporary accommodation they had just left.

"We understand their distress and are working to return them to their home as quickly as possible."