A family with two young children say they have been forced to sleep in the garden - after rats started jumping out of their toilet.

John Evans, 47, says the rodents began crawling up the drainpipes and jumping out of the loo at his home in Trelogan, northeast Wales 18 months ago.

The dad-of-six says that the garden of his council home began flooding with sewage, and ever since there have been multiple rat infestations.

John first noticed the intruders in the middle of the night when one jumped at his backside while he was sitting on the toilet.

The ordeal has left his whole family feeling terrified - especially the three of his children who live with him aged three, five, and 18.

The household have since been going to the toilet in a bucket, and have tried putting a bag of stones in the toilet bowl to stop rats crawling in.

John said: "I opened the toilet seat at 3am and everything was fine, and then something jumped at my bottom. It was trying to escape through he back part of the toilet. I jumped off screaming like a little girl. "

"I couldn't see what it was, and I put the lid down straight away. Then I realised it was a rat swimming around."

"We had four consecutive days with rats jumping out the toilet. Two of them drowned in the bath as we had left the kids bath water in there overnight."

"It has been really hard. My daughter has nonverbal autism and when the rats are running around her bedroom she puts her fingers in her ears and starts screaming. She just screams for hours. "

"There should be no reason that we are going through this."

The dad also says that they have experienced problems with mould, dampness, and a slug infestation.

Last week, John says he was in the hospital with severe Leptospirosis, also known as Weil's disease, allegedly caused by the rat infestation.

While he was away, his wife and three children had been staying with family and friends, as they are unable to return to their property.

John, who claims disability benefits, says he tried applying for temporary accommodation, but that his request was sadly denied.

So, for the last few days the family have been sleeping on the floor in a greenhouse tent in their back garden.

John added: "We ended up losing everything in our house. We had no furniture, the rats had chewed everything."

"We can't actually live in the property because it is overrun with rats."

"I have got to clear my van out so that we have somewhere to sleep. There is nowhere for us to go."

The dad says he has been in touch with Flintshire council and his housing officer several times but that no action has been taken.

Pest control have been called on the issue, but John says they are unable to attend for at least a week, leaving the family out of options.

This traumatic ordeal has really impacted John's mental health, and he claims he is having nightmares about the rodents.

He said: "When I go to sleep, I am jumping up in the middle of the night because I think I've heard something. It has got my mind bent. "

"I can't tell if I am hearing scratching or if it is just in my mind. It has affected me a fair bit. I am dreaming of rats. "

"I don't even want to go back to the house. I am absolutely petrified of rats now. "

"I thought rats coming up the toilet was a myth."

Chief Officer Housing and Communities at Flintshire Council, Vicky Clark, said: "The council is unable to comment on individual cases."



"Where we are alerted to problems with our housing stock, we will work closely with tenants to come to a satisfactory resolution."



"Where appropriate we will also appoint an independent surveyor to identify the necessary repairs and maintenance required and continue to work with tenants until all works have been completed." "

The family have now set up a GoFundMe page

with a £5,000 goal to help them through this tough time.

Donate here: https://gofund.me/b4ed3ada