Invasion of the slugs – family wake to a house of slime every morning

A FAMILY which has suffered infestations of up to 50 slugs a night for more than two years say they have reached the end of their tether.

Nicola Bruce, of Stanfields, says she can no longer stand living in her council house and waking up to hordes of the creatures, while toys, furniture and kitchen cupboards covered in slime.

The 21-year-old, who lives on Haywood Road with partner Thomas Jones, aged 23, one-year-old Reece and three-year-old Tyler, says council workers have visited around 30 times over 30 months, taking up floor boards and fixing areas of damp.

But nothing has solved the problem and Nicola now picks up bags of slugs and bleaches her surfaces every morning before allowing her children to come downstairs.

Officials at Kier, the company contracted by Stoke-on-Trent City Council to maintain its property, said they believed the problem had been solved but promised to look into it again.

Ms Bruce said: "I noticed the slime soon after we moved in, then I stayed up one night to see where they came from and I couldn't believe the huge numbers of them crawling up from the floorboards.

"The council has been out about 30 times to tackle damp but it's never worked.

"I went to their offices with a pillowcase half eaten and a jar of 20 slugs I found that morning.

"If I wake up in the night and go to get a drink I tread on the slugs and it's disgusting.

"I don't want to be here anymore."

Mr Jones added: "We haven't been able to let our youngest son crawl in the house.

"We have to watch them every second so they don't pick a slug up and put it in their mouths, and we shouldn't have to live like this."

Ward councillor David Conway visited the home in 2007, when he asked council officers to sort the problem out.

He said: "When I didn't hear anything more I thought this had been sorted out.

"If it hasn't it's shocking the council has been out 30 times without solving it.

"I wouldn't like this problem and it's obviously very distressing for her."

Housing maintenance officials at Kier said they will be going back to Ms Bruce's house this week as a result of her complaint to The Sentinel.

A spokesman said: "This particular property has already received substantial improvement works during 2008 in the form of a new kitchen and bathroom.

"The problem with slugs had been rectified, but as the tenant has flagged up the recurrence of the problem, we have arranged another investigation to be carried out at the house."

A city council spokesman said: "If repairs or maintenance can't be carried out on a property without the resident staying in the property, they will be re-homed as a priority case."