"Council paid me £1k over mice infestation but I'm still suffering"

A MUM-of-four has received a £1,000 payout from Lewisham Council over a mice infestation in her home – but she is still battling the vermin.

Dora Umusu, 55, of Sandbourne Road in Telegraph Hill, has been waiting almost a year for the council to fix the problem.

She said she is disturbed every night by the sound of the vermin scurrying around above her bedroom.

The situation is so bad three of her daughters have moved out of the home, which is owned by the council.

And her fourth daughter, aged 17, is too embarrassed to invite friends over and avoids using the kitchen for fear of seeing the mice.

Support worker Dora told the Lewisham Letter: “It’s been terrible. At night I can hear them scurrying around above me. It’s disturbing. I think they’re in the loft.

Mouse in the bin — **PICTURED: Dora caught this mouse in her house earlier this week**

“It’s been so stressful. In one week I killed five of them. The council paid me £1,000 in compensation for my stress but I’m still suffering – the mice are still here.

“I threw one away today after catching it in a glue mouse trap behind the freezer.

“Three of my daughters – who are all adults – have moved out because of this and they don’t want to come back.

“My youngest daughter still lives here but if she had a way to leave she would.

Dora pointing at a leak — **PICTURED: Dora is also calling for the council to act on a leak in her house**

“When she uses the kitchen at night she turns on the light and bangs the door against the dining table to scare the mice away.

“She hates it. When she came in from school this afternoon the first thing she said was ‘have you called the council to fix it’.”

Dora’s 17-year-old daughter told the Lewisham Letter that she now actively avoids using the kitchen because of her fear of the mice.

She said: “They are in the kitchen most of the time so I stay upstairs. I’d rather be hungry than see them.

kickboards — **PICTURED: The council put down metal to block the mice but left the bottom of Dora’s kitchen cabinets off**

“I feel self-conscious about inviting my friends over to the house. The last time I had a sleepover here was four years ago. I feel ashamed. I just want it to stop.”

Dora, who did not want to show her face in our pictures, said she has been battling the mice since at least 2022 but only reported the problem to the council at the start of this year.

She added: “Before I reported it, I was thinking the mice were my fault. But we clean every other day – the house is not dirty.

“Then I found out I could call the council and they would come and sort it. So I did – but they still haven’t fixed it.

Damage to cabinets — **PICTURED: Damage to the cabinets in Dora’s kitchen**

“I’ve been let down by the council. I’m really disappointed that the council doesn’t care about its tenants – all it cares about is the money.”

In February she paid the council more than £70 for pest control to come and kill the vermin. However, their efforts to kill the infestation failed.

She added: “I want them to look in the loft. That’s where we can hear them scurrying around.”

Dora, who moved into the home in 2009, said the council has also failed to fix various broken cabinets in her kitchen and a leak coming from her bathroom into her kitchen.

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A Lewisham Council spokesman said: “We apologise to Ms Umusu for this long-running problem.

“We completed repairs at the end of October to block all entry points for mice and our pest control team reported no further activity on their visit last week.

“They will return next week to check the loft area as well. We will continue to keep Ms Umusu updated on this and any further repairs needed in her home.”

Home » News » “Council paid me £1k over mice infestation but I’m still suffering”

“Council paid me £1k over mice infestation but I’m still suffering”

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