Students have claimed mice have been 'running over their feet' and 'living in sofas' at university halls in Manchester. A group of eight friends, all living at Birley Vine halls in Hulme, first spotted a mouse in their kitchen back on February 7.
Since first noticing the rodents, student Louis Walton has claimed his flatmates have attempted to keep the apartment clean and move food from the bottom row of cupboards, but have been forced to buy quick microwave meals to avoid using the kitchen.
However in response, Manchester Metropolitan University has said it has been working to resolve the issues, with additional bin removal services and cleaning products offered to students and that a recent survey indicated there is now 'no pest activity'.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, student, Louis said: "We first saw one mouse on the February 7 and reported it. Within an hour, someone came round and just told us to move our food from the bottom cupboards, which we did. Now all of our dry food is in one sole cupboard - and there are eight of us.
"We kept seeing this mouse every day. About a week later we started seeing other smaller mice followed by the bigger mouse. It was like there was a family of them living somewhere.
"I went down to the reception to speak to accommodation staff and said it was an out of control issue. Individually we are paying £7,000 for the year. That's a large sum of money and we have just been treated with no respect. It is so frustrating and I feel like we are getting nowhere."
Videos shared with the MEN show mice running around the kitchen floors and appearing from beneath sofas in the flat in recent weeks.
However Manchester Metropolitan University has said it was 'fully aware' of the issues raised, that pest controllers have visited the property to resolve the issue and that guidance has been provided to students about the 'importance of cleanliness'. The university also added that the latest survey indicated there is now 'no pest activity' - but that it will be monitored.
"They have been living and crawling through our sofa and under the cupboards. It is so frustrating. They have bitten through the wires in our freezer and have been running over our feet," Louis added.
"You don't want to live among a family of mice crawling all over where you live. They have somehow gotten into the building. We have kept it very clean but they are still obviously living in our walls. We are being let down, when you choose to live in student accommodation you expect to be looked after when living independently.
"When we see them now sitting and watching TV, we don't even scream anymore. They seem to be very comfortable in our flat, but we don't want to live like this any longer.
"We don't even like going in the kitchen on our own and we are having to buy microwave meals from the Co-op that we can cook quickly so we don't need to be in there."
A Manchester Metropolitan University spokesman said: “The health and safety of our students is our top priority. Our Residential Services team is fully aware of the issue raised and has been working to resolve it since they were notified by students in the property.
“External pest controllers have visited the property four times to resolve the issue and we have provided regular guidance to students in the property around the importance of cleanliness. We have also provided additional bin removal services, extra cleaning products and further cleaning services.
“The latest professional survey indicated no pest activity but we will continue to monitor the property.”
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