A family is at its wits end after living in “disgusting” conditions for more than seven years because their building is infested with rats.

Louise Parker, 29, her partner Darren, 30, and her three children aged one, five, and seven are living in a rodent infested housing association estate in Edgware.

The Family Mosaic tenants, who live in Symphony Close, have been forced to dispose of their sofa because mice were nesting in it and have found the creatures nibbling through the wiring of their fridge.

However, their desperation increased on Friday when Ms Parker was in the flat’s kitchen making her children packed lunches and saw a rat run between her feet.

She was so upset by the experience that she took her family and moved into her mother’s house in Edgware for the weekend.

The full-time mum said: “When I saw the rat I was crying my eyes out. I was petrified.

“It is not safe for us or the kids. My seven-year-old went to school in a right state on Friday. She was sobbing after seeing the rat.”

In recent weeks the family have started to suffer from stomach complaints which they believe are due to the infestation.

Ms Parker said: “They are making us ill. Rats are constantly weeing and I wonder if that is what is making us sick.

“We just can’t live like this. It is disgusting. Every time I see them it makes me hysterical.”

Despite repeated complaints to the housing association no permanent solution has been found to the problem.

Family Mosaic has placed traps in the building in the past but has failed to do anything to permanently solve the problem.

As a consequence two of the eight households living in the building have recently moved out.

Helen Barker, 48, who also lives in the block, has found piles of rodent droppings behind her skirting boards and has had to live with a “disgusting” smell when the animals have died.

She said: “It is horrendous. I have caught mice in my flat. They are running wild. It creeps me out.

“It is horrible. You become paranoid. I hate them. I am terrified of getting out of bed and standing on one.

“You can hear them running around everywhere. I am worried they will nibble through the wires and cause a fire. It is just so disgusting.”

Since Ms Parker’s most recent complaint Family Mosaic has offered to send someone to the building to place traps which will be checked on October 2.

The housing association says that they will then work to solve the problem on October 16.

However, the residents are not convinced. They claim that the Family Mosaic has made this promise numerous times in the past and that the solution has never materialised.

The Times Series is awaiting a comment from Family Mosaic.