Sophie Maccoll, 30, Derek Ireland, 34, and daughter Amy, two, have been living with the rodents for more than a month.

Following an inquiry from the Reporter, West Dunbartonshire Council offered an apology to the family, adding that officers are ‘doing everything they can’ to resolve the matter.

Sophie said: “It has affected me so much. I can’t even go into my own kitchen, I can’t sleep, I’m so nervous all the time.

“We’ve had the odd one before but now they’re in our house, in our kitchen and chewing through things. At night, the walls are alive, you can hear them scurrying around. The council are just fobbing us off, they say they’re taking charge of it, but it’s been three weeks since we reported the infestation and no one has done anything productive.” A council officer visited the house on Ardoch Cresent and laid poison in the garden and attic — however the family claim there has been no adequate follow-up.

Derek said: “The officer wouldn’t go into the loft, so I went up myself to lay the poison and found a nest of them. They’ve been chewing through plastic bags in the kitchen and that’s where we found a dead one. This situation could be easily fixed if they could just seal up the building.

“There are holes where the rats are getting in. If the council plugged the holes, this could be done with. They said they’d cut the bushes outside so the rats had nowhere to go, but no one has done that either.” Sophie is becoming increasingly worried for the safety of her daughter Amy. She added: “I’ve taken her out of her room as I’m afraid they could be in there. They carry so many diseases and she leaves her dummy lying around. I’m really sick with worry. I can’t move freely around my own home. If this was a restaurant, environmental health would have it shut down, so why is it ok for a young child to live and eat here?” The council have told the family they are planning to seal up the building from the outside.

Sophie said: “I’ve asked if we can be moved temporarily until they clear the rats out, for my daughter’s sake but the housing officer told me she didn’t have the power to move me and the maintenance people said they’d never heard of that happening.

“This is a well-known problem in the area and the council just ignore it. I’ve phoned them constantly and they keep transferring me to different departments. I’m at a loss what to do next.” A council spokeswoman said: “We would like to apologise to Ms Maccoll and her family for the vermin problem at their home. We do recognise how stressful and concerning this situation is for the family and would like to reassure Ms MacColl that our officers are doing everything they can to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

“Council officers have baited the area both internally and externally, however they have had difficulty in gaining access to all the properties within the block. Overgrown vegetation within the back court could be harbouring the vermin, but also concealing access points where they could be entering the property.

“Although clearing this vegetation is not the council’s responsibility, arrangements are being made to carry this out. If any access points where vermin could be entering the property are revealed, they will be sealed and repaired.

“Officers will continue to keep Ms Maccoll updated with their progress in eradicating the problem.”