A mum has told of her torment after her young son chewed on door frames in their council house and contracted lead poisoning.

Georgia Beattie’s little boy Elijah has Pica, which makes him want to bite things that are not food - such as the wood, paint and plaster in their Herne Bay property.

The 19-year-old says she has to watch him constantly “because otherwise he will be eating the walls” - and doctors warn he needs to be moved to a different property “immediately”.

When Georgia visited the GP for help, tests revealed the three-year-old had dangerous levels of lead in his blood.

The mum-of-two quickly got in touch with Canterbury City Council (CCC) and environmental health officers were sent to their home to take samples from the door frames and skirting boards.

In January it was confirmed lead was present, likely originating from lead paint. But Georgia, Elijah and nine-month-old daughter Lexi-Jean have been left living in the Victoria Park property for a further six months during efforts to secure them a suitable home.

The city council says it has “pulled out all the stops” to find a “long-term solution for the whole family's housing requirements”.

Georgia told KentOnline the impact of the lead poisoning on her son, who has autism, has been terrifying - and sometimes she has feared for his life.

“He’s actually been in hospital twice this year already due to his chest and not being able to breathe properly,” she said.

“Lead poisoning attacks the neurological system so he’s quite weak a lot of the time. He misses out on nursery quite a lot because he’s always ill.

“Sometimes if I take him to the park, he’ll be wiped out for two days. He’ll just lay on the sofa and won’t even play or do anything. It’s very scary and very stressful“

Georgia originally thought Elijah’s habit of gnawing on things was just teething.

But concerns were raised at nursery that his desire to bite and even eat wood and other hard materials went beyond teething behaviours normal for his age.

Staff there recommended Elijah be taken to the GP to investigate and there it was discovered the tot was suffering from Pica.

At the same time, tests revealed the levels of lead in his blood.

“He always ate a lot of things,” said Georgia.

“As soon as he could stand up he was eating away at his cot. Doctors told me it was just teething and he’d grow out of it but then he turned two and he was still doing it.

“But when he started nursery they said they’d never seen a child his age put so many things in their mouth and said he should be checked. He got a blood test and it came back saying he was anaemic and he had lead poisoning.”

Georgia says she worries that Lexi-Jean may also have been affected.

The family moved into the house in September 2021, meaning the children have been exposed to the toxin for 20 months.

In March, three months after being told by the council that a new placement was being sought, Georgia contacted KentOnline.

Following our enquiries, Canterbury City Council (CCC) reached out to the family and promised they would be rehoused by the end of that week.

This move was then delayed when it was discovered the new property also contained lead, and remedial works were needed.

Until the 1960s, lead was used as a pigment in white paint commonly used on wood and metal.

The result of this is that a large percentage of pre-war homes in the UK likely have hidden layers of lead paint on their door frames, skirting boards and radiators.

While this is unlikely to harm most of the occupants of these homes, for people affected by Pica it can be extremely dangerous or even deadly.

Georgia and her partner, Elijah’s dad, Harvey have tried to curb the boy’s cravings and prevent him from further exposure.

She said: “It’s a very hard situation. I always have to have a gate on my front room door or his bedroom door.

“I have a camera pointed where he likes to chew so if I have to pop out of the room for two seconds I can still see him. I have to watch him 24/7 because otherwise he will be eating the walls.”

The family have also tried to find safe alternatives to Elijah’s cravings, using toys meant for chewing and teething biscuits.

But in spite of their best efforts, his compulsion is focused on the wood in his home, and even with vigilant parents he occasionally manages to sneak away to find something to chew.

Even reasoning with Elijah is a serious challenge. Not only can he not control his urges due to his young age, he is also autistic - meaning he can find it difficult to communicate effectively.

Pica, which is most common in pregnant women and children with autism, has no straightforward cure and frequently requires years of complex treatments to fully address.

Children with the condition have been identified as the group at the highest risk of dangerous exposure to lead in the UK.

Elijah has developed anaemia and suffers fits of exhaustion and dizziness.

Lead levels of more than 1.93μmol/L require swift treatment. Those with levels of more than 4μmol/L are recommended for urgent hospitalisation and at 7.25 µmol/L it is thought to be fatal.

In the last eight years one young person has died of lead poisoning in the UK. Tragically, it was a two-year-old boy with Pica and iron deficiency, who ingested lead-containing paint, resulting in acute lead toxicity.

In January Elijah’s lead reading was 2.34μmol/L and his paediatrician recommended elective admission to William Harvey Hospital.

“Elijah has to be removed immediately from his house to stop the ongoing exposure to lead...”

Due to his autism, his parents believed this would distress him and cause him harm. On the understanding that the family would soon be removed from the hazardous property this was accepted by the doctor.

In a letter dated February, which confirmed Elijah’s GP had sent a letter requesting his family be rehoused, his paediatrician wrote: “The consensus is that Elijah has to be removed immediately from his house to stop the ongoing exposure to lead which could potentially cause neurological consequences.”

At the time doctors also prescribed Elijah a course of chelation medication designed to remove the lead from his body - but said he could not start this until he was no longer at risk of exposure.

As this has not been possible, the toddler has not received treatment.

After spending two weeks trying to reach the city council for an update on the move they were promised three months ago, Georgia again reached out to KentOnline.

“I’ve sometimes even been scared for Elijah’s life...”

Just over an hour after KentOnline contacted CCC this week, the family were told they could pick up the keys to a new, freshly renovated property within the week.

While Georgia and Harvey are relieved to finally be moving into a home safe for their son and grateful for the support of social housing, they feel angry Elijah was left at risk for such a long time.

They are also fearful of how this episode will affect their son in the long term.

“I think quite a lot about my son’s future,” Georgia said.

“When they tell me that it affects his neurological system then that’s everything really.

“I’ve sometimes even been scared for Elijah’s life. When it first came around I didn’t really know what it was so I searched online about how it could affect him and that did really scare us.

“I found out that it could attack his nervous system and his arms and legs could stop working properly.

“If we hadn’t moved here my son wouldn’t have lead poisoning. It is frustrating and it makes me angry.”

In the next week, as well as hopefully moving into her new home, Georgia says she will be taking both her children for fresh tests.

A Canterbury City Council spokesman said: "We are very sympathetic to the difficulties faced by this family and have been working closely with them and professionals to understand their precise needs.

"The requirement for a new property was identified a few weeks ago, but it had to be of a certain type in a very specific area of Herne Bay so that it met the family's needs.

"Working within such narrow parameters made this a difficult task because there was very little suitable housing stock of that type that was available, but we pulled out all the stops and were able to find something quickly.

"The family viewed it and confirmed it was suitable for size and location, and we then agreed with them a full programme of work that was needed to get it ready for them to move into.

"This work has been extensive, including stripping back woodwork where necessary, repainting with acrylic paint and removing wooden cupboards, on top of the normal work we carry out to prepare a property for a new tenant. We are pleased to say we expect it to be ready in the next week or two.

"When they move in, they will be getting a property that provides a long-term solution for the whole family's housing requirements, but one that particularly meets Elijah's needs as he grows and develops in the years to come.

"We can confirm we have been in contact with the family throughout this process and remain available to support them with Elijah's condition."