Carrickfergus man in court bid over 'rat infested' house

Mr Welsh said the rats were first discovered at the house in 2009

A County Antrim man is going to court after his newly built turnkey house in the town was made uninhabitable by rats.

Paul Welsh and his partner moved out of their detached home in Taylor's Avenue, Carrickfergus, just under three years ago due to the problem.

The couple are living in rented accommodation, while still paying the mortgage on the house.

It has emerged the property was built over a sewer without authorisation.

"If you stay in here longer than five to 10 minutes, once you leave here you'll find yourself very itchy, because it's in the atmosphere whatever the rats carry," Mr Welsh said.

"It's uninhabitable for human beings to be in - it's been struck off the rates bill."

He said everything had to be taken out of the house and dumped.

"If you take anything out of this house into another house you could carry germs from one home to the other," he said.

"Anywhere you look the wires have been eaten, there's faeces everywhere - maybe an inch or two thick."

Rats 'eating traps'

Mr Welsh and his partner first discovered the rats in 2009.

"At the start we actually thought it was field mice," he said.

"We phoned environmental health, he went through different things, put down traps, then the first rat was found and we knew we had a problem.

"They actually were at the stage where they were eating the traps that he had left. You could hear them, when they were caught, bouncing on the ceilings."

Mr Welsh said it was discovered that the insulation between the inner wall and the outer wall wasn't there so the rats "could climb up the walls and into the roof space".

He said despite the conditions he still felt an attachment to the house.

Bluebottles in the bath of the house, which has not been lived in for nearly three years

"My first child was born here and I'm very much still emotionally attached to the home and at the start it was just that we wanted it fixed, but it's past that now," he said.

In a statement, NI Water said it was aware of an unauthorised build over a sewer at this address.

"However, any damage caused to the sewer and subsequent repair costs is the responsibility of the person who built the dwelling," it said.

"The customer has since been in touch with us and requested a cost to repair the sewer. A quote is currently being finalised and will be with the customer shortly."