Pest problem at woman’s flat

A Seymour Hill woman says she can no longer sleep in her bedroom until the Riverside home she occupies is cleared of mice.

A mouse infestation at the two bedroomed flat has forced Saeedah Charlesworth (50) to sleep on a sofa in her sitting room and claims that neighbours have also complained to her that they too have a similar mouse problem.

She has already contacted agencies including Environmental Health of Lisburn City Council who offered the woman a pest control service.

To date six mice have been caught. Poison and sticky boards have been left down but despite this, Saeedah says that she still sees traces of the rodents around her home.

Saeedah lives with her 14-year-old granddaughter who moved from their Elm Corner home into the two bedroom ground floor eight months ago.

“My grand-daughter would heard scratches and scrapes in her room and was convinced that she had a ghost,” said Saeedah who has a serious heart problem. “Mice have been in my bedroom, I have seen them running down the cooker, in the hotpress, in the wardrobe. They have been at the back of the sink in my kitchen, in my bed, everywhere. I am afraid to sleep in my bedroom in case they run over my face at night. I have had to replace kettles, pots, plates because of the mice. I am at my wits end.” She says that the mouse problem has even affected her health.

A spokesperson for the council said they visited the home and offered a pest control service to the tenant. “The control of mice is the responsibility of the owner of the property,” she said.