A HEARTBROKEN mum is sending her three-year-old daughter away for Christmas as she can't afford food or presents.
Sian Hope made the devastating decision to not spend the festive period with the toddler after rats chewed through her sofa.
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Sian Hope has been forced to send her daughter away for Christmas Credit: BPM 5
Her home has been plagued by rats Credit: BPM
The mum says all her money is being swallowed up by the infestation in her Birmingham council house - meaning she cannot afford to pay for Christmas.
Sian, who also has a baby son, told Birmingham Live: "Christmas this year is going to be a struggle.
"I’m having to send off my daughter to her grandparents because it’s going to be a struggle to get presents for her, I just have to accept that I’m not going to be able to do it and it makes me so upset.
“So I’ll have Christmas dinner on my own with my baby. It’s a shame because it’s his first Christmas, and it would have been nice if we could have been together.
"The grandparents are already caring for another grandchild so it’s too much of a squeeze for us to go there as well.
“I know my daughter will have a nicer time if she goes there. I don’t want her to see me upset on Christmas Day. And I don’t want her just sitting around the house here and for it to be the same as it is every other day.”
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Sian, whose real name hasn't been used, moved into the home during the pandemic to escape an abusive partner.
Rats laid a nest inside the sofa - with the situation so bad the family could no longer use the living room.
The animals were removed earlier this year but Sian says they have now returned to her attic.
She added: "It’s been really tough.
"My son is five months old now, he’s going to get to the stage where I have to put him on solids soon and I’m already worried about what I’m going to feed my daughter, never mind what I eat as well.
"I can't afford presents. I might just about be able to pick up a colouring set and some leggings and a top for her from Primark for Christmas but that's all."
Just days before her second child was born, she took the council to court over the vermin problem and won.
RAT PROBLEM
Birmingham council were ordered to pay ￡479 compensation for a new bed and sofa but still haven't handed the cash over.
They say they are waiting for "invoices or written proof of purchase", which Sian claims she repeatedly sent to the council.
A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: "We are sorry that this claim has not been settled.
"Birmingham City Council will always try to settle any valid compensation claim as quickly as possible but requires invoices or written proof of purchase in order to process any application.
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"In this case the tenant has not provided any, if they do so we will be happy to settle the claim.
"In relation to the tenant's claim that the rodents have come back, we have sent a pest control officer to inspect the property. If they have come back we will put in place a treatment of works to ensure that they do not return in the future."
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Rats have chewed through her bed and sofa Credit: BPM Media 5
They also ate through the flat's electricity wires Credit: BPM Media 5
Sian says she has no money for food or presents Credit: BPM