A WOMAN outraged at Oxford City Council for letting her live with a rat in her home and B&B says she has decided to deal with the problem herself.

Alison Fayers-Kerr told the council about the rat when she first saw it on December 3 and expected the problem to be dealt with a week later, but it was not.

The 65-year-old, who lives in Jericho, said the council needed a better relationship with the company that runs its pest control service.

She said: “They were supposed to come before, and I waited all day for them, but no one came. Their private company that deals with rats called me to say that they couldn’t come – it’s just terrible. I think we should put pressure on the council.”

Oxford City Council said its pest control service was in high demand and its resources were limited.

It said: “We provide a highly effective and competitively-priced pest control service through our partner, Oxford Direct Services.

“We will deal with pest problems as soon as possible but due to high demand and limited resources, there may be a delay before we can attend to every request we receive.”

Mrs Fayers-Kerr discovered she had a rat in her house when she noticed food in her kitchen had been nibbled.

She said: “I had to start putting all my food away so that it couldn’t get to it."

The council’s pest control service was due to come to her home on December 18, but Mrs Fayers-Kerr said she could not wait until then and was going to deal with the problem herself.

She said: “It’s almost Christmas and I can’t have this rat living in my kitchen any longer. If they’re not going to do something about it then I will.

“The council should offer people an emergency service that they can pay for and be more honest with the time it really takes to remove pests.”

For those who receive housing benefit or council tax reduction, pest control for rats is free of charge, but for property owners like Ms Fayers-Kerr there is a fee of £80. She said she was not happy with the price, especially as she pays council tax every month and is providing a public service as a B&B.

She often has guests staying in the house, which adds to her urgent call to get the rat sorted out.

She said: “I’d have to wait another week until this gets sorted and even then, there will be rat poison all over the place. It’s not very nice for my guests that I have round – it’s a health scare.

“I was told by the council that it is only an emergency if a dead rat has been found, but in my opinion, it is an emergency now.”

Despite not wanting to use poison, Mrs Fayers-Kerr said she had been forced to in order to deal with the problem as quickly as possible.