Two housemates are “in tears” at the rat infestation outside their building and are slamming the local council for lack of action – with a video going viral on Instagram.
Alice and Natalie share a home in Clapham Common, where they have lived for the past two years.
Although they love their rental flat, “horror” awaits every time they step outside their front door due to the constant fly-tipping in the alleyway that leads to their flat.
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The situation also attracts antisocial behaviour, with people throwing away food and general trash on the street, as well as “defecating and having fights” in the area.
They claim the issue has persisted for years but has escalated in the past two months, with the pair sharing videos with Jam Press that show overflowing bins and what appears to be rodents running around on the ground.
Natalie and Alice, aged 24 and 26, claim to have raised the issue regarding the alleyway with Lambeth council many times but find the process of contacting them “exhausting”.
The pair recently shared a video of what appears to be rats scurrying along the alleyway on a local community Instagram, which has received nearly 1,000 likes.
“It is starting to affect my mental health,” Natalie said in an exclusive interview with Jam Press.
“I am on the phone crying to my parents about this every week.
“Alice and I have been dealing with this problem since we moved in nearly two years ago but it’s escalated in the past two months.
“She works from home and her window faces the alleyway; we see the rats running around every day and have spotted several nests.
“I’m terrified that they will multiply over summer, as the weather gets hotter and the bins begin to smell worse than they already do.
“The whole area stinks and I feel so embarrassed when we have friends over.
“I work in banking, often until 2-3am at night; I hate coming home because I feel unsafe.
“Not only because of the rats but because the general disarray and overflowing trash attracts dodgy characters.
“They’ll sleep outside our door and we’ve even found poo on our stoop.
“I’m also worried from a fire safety point of view; this is our only entry and exit point.
“The bins are often stacked so full – sometimes against the gate – that I have to move trash in order to get out of my own building and onto the main road.
“This is a serious problem that keeps me up every night.”
The video also appears to have gotten the attention of the council, which told Jam Press it had since cleaned up the area.
A Lambeth Council spokesperson told us: “Following residents’ concern we have cleared the fly-tipped waste from private land behind Clapham High Street.
“We are working with residents and businesses so the problem doesn’t return. Fly-tipping is a blight on communities and we encourage local people to report issues.”
Jam Press also asked whether the council planned any pest control measures but had not received any additional comment at the time of writing.
Alice and Natalie first met while on a work placement together and have just signed another year’s lease for their flat, despite the issues they have encountered with the council.
They have contacted their landlord, who is sympathetic about their plight and is organising a visit from Pest Control Leeds, reports Need To Know.
However, they point out that the landlord does not own the land behind their flat and is doing this because “they appreciate us as tenants”.
And, as Natalie claims, “the issue will remain because the bins will just keep filling up and the rats will eventually return”.
“Contacting Lambeth council is exhausting, especially because I often work late into the night, when their phone line isn’t open.
“The have sent out a clean-up crew in the past but they do a mediocre job.
“And a few months later, the issue returns.
“We need deterrents; signage against illegal dumping, CCTV installed in the alleyway and more council bins for residents.
“No one should have to live like this.
“I dread going home and when I am home, I feel trapped in my house because I just don’t want to face the nightmare outside – or come across the rats.
“I believe that the hideous scene outside is also the reason why people fly-tip and dump their rubbish here.
“Alice and I have confronted strangers when they do this but others will throw things like chicken wings from their car windows into this alleyway as they drive past.
“There are often fights in the area too, when drunk people pass our street on their way home.
“If the area was cleaned up, I don’t think we’d have these problems – or at least not as often.
“Our flat also faces the high street, which has several restaurants on it, and they use this alleyway but we’ve spoken to them and feel they are trying to do their best.
“Our issue is with the council.
“Unless they act, the area will never recover and we might be forced to move, because I just can’t take it anymore.
“We love the actual flat and keep a clean house, which is something I’m proud of.
“So it feels doubly awful when we bring people back and they see the state of the alleyway.
“I don’t know what I did wrong in a past life to deserve this kind of karma.”
