A mum says her ex-partner and their two children have been stuck in a mice infested flat, despite being told there were none before moving in.

Shawny Dighton's daughters Summer and Athena-Rose, eight and five, live with their dad Daryl Bloomsmar in their Southern Housing flat in Canterbury Road, Sittingbourne, and all three have severe allergies to mice.

Daryl had noticed mouse droppings while visiting the property, and told the housing company he could not move in if there were mice as the family were allergic.

He says they were assured by the provider there was not a mouse problem in the flat.

But since moving in last July Shawny says Daryl and their two daughters have faced an infestation of mice – a problem which she says has plagued the flat's residents for two years.

The mum-of-four said: "Before he decided to move there, he told them he and the children had a severe allergy to mice, but they told him it was fine and let him move in anyway.

"The children are getting sick, they're getting rashes all over and they get really ill, it makes them puke.

"The whole block is infested, from flat 45 to 63. He's had to chuck all his stuff out, he's thrown so much away, it's really left him with nothing.

"There's mouse droppings everywhere.

"All the residents are affected by it, and Southern Housing keeps saying it's down to the residents to sort out."

The 30-year-old said everyone in the block pays a service charge for the communal areas to be cleaned, but this still gets left to the tenants to clean up.

She added: "Southern Housing haven't even sent out pest control, all they say is they'll look at their budget and see what they can do.

"When some neighbours called in pest control themselves, they were told the mouse problem is not due to anything the residents were doing.

"Southern Housing just don't seem to care about it. They move people into their property knowing they'll have to be the one to fork out the money to pay for pest control."

A Southern Housing spokesman said: "We were contacted in January this year regarding an issue with mice, and pest control attended to treat the issue.

"Our Housing Team will also follow up with the resident to ensure he’s aware of any further support we can offer."

Pest control were due to attend the property last Friday following a further report from the resident. Friday, 17 March