Scottish gran left with only custard to eat after mouse invasion

A GRANDMOTHER has told how her flat is so overrun with mice the only food left fit for her family to eat is custard.
Georgina McCallum wants the housing association to rehome her since mice invaded her flat. Picture: Lisa FergusonGeorgina McCallum wants the housing association to rehome her since mice invaded her flat. Picture: Lisa Ferguson
Georgina McCallum wants the housing association to rehome her since mice invaded her flat. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Rodents are running amok in every room of Georgina McCallum’s three-bedroom Craigmillar apartment, leaving a trail of droppings and wrecking food.

Ms McCallum said pest control have failed to rid her of the infestation but landlords Link Group assured help had been offered but refused.

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“It’s not just one or two, it’s 22,” a tearful Ms McCallum told the Evening News. “They’ve got into the cooker – it’s terrible.”

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Ms McCallum said her flat is now “unhygienic” and she wants to be moved – while food has been ruined by marauding mice.

“We had a bag of 24 crisps on the kitchen table with only one bag opened and I saw one, two, three, four, five mice come out.”

“You know what we had to eat last night? My daughter found some Bird’s custard in the cupboard so made that.”

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Ms McCallum is now worried about the health of son Kenny, ten, daughters Lara, nine and Chereme, 21, and 18-month-old granddaughter Darbie.

“Mice are in the bathroom, in the kitchen and in the bedrooms,” said Ms McCallum. “In my bedroom there’s a massive space under the carpet so they come up through that.

“They run over my bed and go over the pillow cases. They’re living in the cooker as well. It’s unhygienic and I’ve got the wee ones staying with me. I’ve reported it to pest control and they came out and put poison down but they’re still here.

“I see them running under the spaces in the doors and then stop and decide which way to go. I’ve been cleaning and cleaning.”

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Ms McCallum said the mouse problem started about six-and-a-half years ago, having lived in the flat for eight years.

The mice have even wrecked her new £499 silver, crushed velvet sofa – making watching TV impossible.

“I’ve got a brand new sofa and they’ve put a big hole in it,” said unemployed Ms McCallum, who plans to start training as a child care worker later this month.

“I was sat on the sofa and felt it shaking and thought it was the neighbours downstairs but my daughter sat on it and said it’s the mice.”

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A spokesman for Slateford-based affordable housing landlords said they were aware of the problem.

He added: “Our contractors have boarded up any accessible entry points to the flat, however, to seal the soil pipe, the kitchen units need to be removed and replaced entirely.

“We have offered to complete this work; however, the tenant refused this option due to the potential for disruption.

“As a less disruptive alternative, our contractor suggested securing kick plates, however, the tenant also refused this and asked us not to send any further contractors.

“The matter has since been on hold, but the tenant has been urged to contact us if they would like us to revisit the issue.”