A young mum claims she was told by her housing provider to use a powerful mould removal spray on her five-month-old baby's mattress.
Katie Carline, 18, recently left foster care to move into a new property with her baby and partner. The young family moved into their new home in January, but shortly after found the property was musty and discovered rat droppings in the bathroom.
"I viewed the house before Christmas and it looked clean but the day we moved in, it was musty,” Katie explained. “I didn't think to look in the cupboards but when I actually moved in I found rat droppings and rat traps under the bath."
"The mould wasn't visible at first,” she added. “Everything we didn't unpack we put in the baby's room, as she was in our room. We noticed the walls had water patches in the baby's room, they looked like they'd been sprayed with a hose."
Katie told the ECHO she was assisted in her new home in Walton, Liverpool by Bedspace, an organisation which specialises in supporting vulnerable people.
When she informed Bedspace of her concerns, Katie claims she was given a bottle of Cillit Bang Mould Removal Spray to help combat the issues. She then noticed the problem had spread to her furniture, including drawers she uses to store baby blankets and even her baby's mattress.
She said she was once again informed that using the spray on the items would help to get rid of the mould.
Katie added: "I started noticing damp on the drawers. I went to get a blanket and they're wet, smell damp and there's mould in there. I've had to move everything into the living room where it's not as bad."
Bedspace said they were unaware of the extent of the issues with the mattress and apologised to Katie for their ‘misunderstanding’. They said the spray was only ever suggested as a ‘short-term solution’ to address mould on the external cot and not the baby’s mattress.
A spokesperson for Bedspace said: "There has clearly been a misunderstanding and we apologise for any miscommunication. When Katie contacted our out of hours team late one evening, she notified us that the baby was safe and they were both staying at her mum’s house nearby.
"We were not made aware of the issue with the baby’s mattress. It was our understanding there was mould on the external cot only. The member of staff on duty explained a support worker would visit the property at 9am the next morning and only suggested spraying the cot as a short-term solution while the baby was out of the room."
It is understood Katie has now been moved to alternative accommodation with the support of Bedspace.
"We understand it has been a difficult time for Katie, and our main priority has been the health and safety of her and her baby,” the spokesperson for Bedspace added.
"Now that Katie is beyond the age of 18 and is no longer in our care, we’ve been working alongside Liverpool City Council and her personal adviser to provide a viable solution and sustain long-term accommodation.
"When we first viewed the property with Katie there were no visible signs of damage, and the landlord provided us with the necessary health and safety certification. However, upon a more recent visit on 13 February following reports of mould it was apparent that the property was not up to the standards we expect.
“It was overcrowded with belongings causing poor ventilation, so we advised it needed to be cleared straight away so that maintenance work could be carried out by the landlord.
"Although Katie initially didn’t want to relocate and has resisted multiple attempts over the past week, we had to put safety first. Our support team accelerated the process in a matter of days and helped her with the move on 20 February.
“We can only apologise for any distress or inconvenience this may have caused and we hope she'll be able to settle in her new tenancy."
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