'Horror movie' horde of rats swarm London flats as locals desperately run away

Horrified residents were left desperately fleeing their homes after a swarm of ratstook over a block of flats.

Shocking images showed dozens of rats scurrying through bins, doorways and halls in a building in Hackney, London, that fed-up residents have described as a "Victorian Britain hellhole slum". The disgusting footage showed rats scurrying up the block's pipework and into 12 flats at Crystal Court as people living in the property hit out at the housing association. Families have said they "constantly" see the vermin and even hear them during the night as some people have moved out altogether to escape.

Residents have raged at their housing association Notting Hill Genesis for allegedly not addressing the infestation problem. Families have said they've spent nearly four years begging the responsible company to end the horror living situation in their flats.

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Samantha, who has lived in the block for over 10 years told LBC: "You can hear them squealing, you can hear them running, you can hear them scratching, she lamented. When they run across the ceiling, it sounds like there are 10 of them - not just one solo rat.

"They [the rats] have taken over the whole building." She added: "If this was a restaurant and there was like one rat, it would be closed down’... and this is how we’re expected to live."

Destin Domokundi, who has lived in Crystal Court with his mum since 2012, said the "disgusting" problem has been raised with the association several times, according to the MailOnline. He said: "It's been an issue for years, not just recently. This became an issue four years ago. It's gotten really intense recently. People have been scared to go into the bin room."

Another person, who pays over £900 a month to live in the infested block, said the rodents have been keeping her up at night. She said: "It has been affecting my mental health - I haven't had a full nights sleep in over a year. It's awful. Next door had a leak really bad because ratsbit through the pipes. So they had to move out for a year."

Mum Pauline Aldred, 46, who has lived in Crystal Court for two years described the terrifying situation, saying: "It's like a horror movie. I cry myself to sleep sometimes at how bad it is." Another local called the block a "Victorian Britain hellhole slum" and slammed the horror rat ordeal.

In a statement to LBC, Notting Hill Genesis said: "We are aware of ongoing pest issues at Crystal Court and apologise for the impact of this on our residents whilst we have been working to resolve matters.

"Household waste left in communal areas has now been cleared and we have carried out extensive pest control and prevention work, both within Crystal Court and the neighbouring commercial units.

"Further works to the bin store room are underway and we have requested that residents take additional care when disposing of waste to prevent these issues from reoccurring."