Edinburgh family claim they found mice crawling in their baby girl's cot which left her 'screaming'

Kim Al-abadi, her husband Asam Al-abadi and their 22-month-old daughter Alaia, claim that they have been mistreated by Link Housing ever since they agreed to take their temporary accommodation in Craigentinny last September.

Edinburgh mum says rat invasion forced her to move children out of home

Mrs Al-Abadi, said: “My daughter woke up in the middle of the night absolutely terrified and screaming. We rushed her to the hospital thinking something was wrong with her health but we soon realised that it was the mice crawling around her bed at night.”

Flat almost 'blown up'

After reporting the issue to Link, Mrs Al-Abadi said that they arranged for pest control to visit the property.

However, she said that the property was filled with holes so any traps or poison being laid down to eradicate the problem was “pointless.”

She said: “Link proposed filling the holes with steel wool and believed that this was a suitable solution.

“My daughter plays on the floor and could pull it out or hurt herself with it. They would not lift the carpets to deal with the holes. I have had to move back in with my parents cause of the issue.”

Matters had been made worse by the treatment that the young family say they had experienced at the hands of Link in a previous property.

A few months after being declared homeless, the family was placed in temporary accommodation on Marionville Rd. At this property they claim they had to deal with a myriad of issues from mould, to broken kitchen appliances and faulty maintenance work.

Mrs Al-Abadi said: “In September of last year we were placed in temporary accommodation on Marionville Rd. From the first day that we were moving in I noticed problems and complained daily until the house was condemned.

“The oven did not work, there was no fridge and no working washing machine. To be fair to them a fridge was delivered to us quickly. But the plumber who tried to fix the washing machine left us without hot water for ten days and almost blew up our flat by putting electrics through a waste pipe.”

He added: “I was close to doing nothing about it but the thought of others going through the same thing with no family support like I have had is heartbreaking.”

The couple was asked to feed their daughter - who has food allergies - with takeaways after the cooker was not repaired. This lasted 16 weeks and cost the couple £2,000 that they have still not been reimbursed.

Link Housing were approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publishing.