Lambeth mum wins £1k as daughter found playing with mouse poo

Mum wins £1,000 from South London council after finding her daughter playing with droppings in her mouse infested flat.

A mum has won £1,000 from Lambeth Council after she found her daughter playing with droppings in her mouse-infested flat. 

The woman, known only as Miss F, had to sofa surf and sleep in her car because of Lambeth Council's failure to deal with the problem or rehouse her between June and September 2022. 

At one point she told officials she had been forced to sleep in a church to escape the infestation, according to a report by the Local Government Ombudsman – which deals with complaints about councils. 

The woman and her baby daughter were housed in the problem basement flat by the council in May 2021 after becoming homeless. The following April Ms F told officials about the mouse problem. 

An Ombudsman report dated December 16 2022 reads: "Miss F complained to the council about the mice infestation, enclosing photographs. She said the mice were eating through food, making holes in clothes and noise at night affecting her sleep. 

"She had found her daughter playing with droppings and had found droppings in her shoes. Miss F said it was causing her trauma and depression, she had a phobia of them and had had to sleep elsewhere at times."

Ms F paid pest control to visit the flat out of her own money, while she waited for the council to get someone to inspect the property. The council finally sent someone on May 24 2022, but the infestation worsened and by the end of the month Miss F told the council she could no longer live in the flat.

The council should have then decided whether she could continue living in the property within eight weeks. But the Ombudsman found no evidence officials had checked if Miss F's flat was safe to continue living in.

The Ombudsman report continues: "The council told Miss F its surveyor had used his professional judgement to determine she could continue to occupy the premises while treatment was ongoing. But it has sent no notes of the surveyor's visit [or] evidence of this decision. […] I therefore have no evidence this decision was taken properly and I find there was fault in the way the decision was made."

Ms F continued to complain to the council. She sent photos of dropping in her daughter's cot to officials and told them that her daughter was suffering from rashes linked to the infestation. She was forced to take time off work and was using "antidepressants due to stress," the report adds. Ms F and her daughter were sleeping in a car and sofa surfing to avoid the flat. 

Lambeth Council finally completed repair works in mid-September 2022 and a follow-up inspection found the flat to be mouse free the following month. Lambeth Council has been contacted for comment on the case.