A NEWPORT woman has said she is disgusted with the little help she was offered after her flat was infested with mice.

Katie Santwris, who lives in a ground floor of a former house which has been converted into flats, in Cecil Sharp Road, Ringland under Newport City Homes (NCH), said she has lived in the property for a year and has had no problems until this year.

The 24-year-old said hundreds of mice have been coming into her property for the past two months, and that she has had to move out with her two-year-old daughter because it has become 'unbearable'.

She also said she upset with Newport City Homes because they have not offered her any support or advice.

Ms Santwris said: "I've been here for a year and nothing bad has happened until now. The problem started happening about two months ago, mice kept coming in and I didn't know what was happening.

"I've been told NCH can't do anything about this as it will cost to much money as the loft is connected to other houses so it would cost to much to sort the problem.

"When I asked them about rehoming me, they said they can't do anything except put me on a waiting list.

"I had to get a pest control company in and they came three times and killed loads of them but they just keep coming in."

At the moment, Ms Santwris is living with her mother as the problem is still ongoing, and she says she can't live in the flat with daughter Erin any more.

"It's awful, they're everywhere. We keep finding dead ones all over and blood all over because they're dying due to the poison," she said.

"The infestation is that bad now I've got mice running up the walls, and I've found them nesting in my two-year-old's bed and under my bed. My 2-year-old has been covered in flea bites and I've had to let my dog go live elsewhere because of the poison. Every morning we were waking up to mice droppings on our beds."

Ms Santwris has said even with traps and poison being regularly put down, the problem isn't stopping, and Environmental Health are currently looking at the property.

"They are currently putting traps down and poison down as they say they need to get their own evidence," she said.

"Before anything can be pushed forward we have to get Environmental Health to say it [the flat] is a risk."

A Newport City Homes spokeswoman said: “Pest control issues are dealt with by specialist pest control services. Residents should make direct contact with them if they have any concerns. In this instance, no obvious potential causes for mice infestation were found.”