A mum and her two young sons have been made to sleep in their living room after rats infested the upstairs bedrooms and loft - leaving "faeces everywhere".<br /><br />Ebonie Evans, 29, said vermin have “destroyed everything” at the house in Hawkinge, near Folkestone, Kent - including her £200 trainers.<br /><br />She claims she has even caught rare Weil’s disease, an illness commonly linked to the urine of infected rats.<br /><br />Ebonie said: “They’ve destroyed everything. They’ve peed, there are faeces everywhere, they’ve chewed through our belongings.”<br /><br />The family moved into the house three years ago. Ebonie says problems began in 2022. <br /><br />She believes rats came from an empty property next door.<br /><br />They were then moved to temporary accommodation from March to July while pest controllers were brought in.<br /><br />But now Ebonie and sons George, 10, and Arthur, four, have returned home, the rats are still at large.<br /><br />Even the family dog Venus, a bulky French mastiff, has not deterred them.<br /><br />Ebonie said: “The loft is full of faeces. Before we were moved we could literally hear them at night scratching and fighting in the loft.<br /><br />“I put traps there. One must have got caught. It chewed its own leg off to get away.<br /><br />“I’ve nearly lost my fingers so many times setting rat traps.”<br /><br />The rats have knawed on electricity cables, causing a need for rewiring, as well as chewing carpets and sofas.<br /><br />They have also left mites, plus disgusting masses of urine and faeces.<br /><br />Miss Evans added: “I’ve had to replace carpets and sofas. It’s disgusting but I don’t know where else to turn.”<br /><br />She says her bedroom is so badly contaminated and infested with mites that it has been sealed off.<br /><br />Ebonie has been sleeping on a sofa for 40 days while she recovers from Weil’s disease, while her sons are sleeping on beds set up in the living room.<br /><br />She added: “I hoover and mop every day - sometimes twice for my own sanity<br /><br />“But yet still I come home to faeces on the floor.”<br /><br />Rats are nocturnal and not usually seen in a house, especially in broad daylight. But Ebonie says she has spotted them outside and has blocked what she believes was their burrow in the garden.<br /><br />The vermin’s presence means her children can’t play there and are only allowed in the front yard.<br /><br />The loft insulation has also been tunnelled through and her house has had power surges, which she believes is caused by chewed wiring.<br /><br />Her landlord, property management company Places for People, has apologised for how long it is taking to solve the rats issue.<br /><br />A spokesperson for Places for People said: “We are sorry for the length of time that it has taken to resolve the vermin issue at Miss Evans’ home. <br /><br />"We are working to resolve this as quickly as possible.<br /><br />“Due to the extensive initial works required to the property, we had to move Miss Evans and her family to a temporary home whilst this work was carried out.
