A HOARDER who risked the health of her neighbours by filling her home with mounds of dangerous waste has been evicted – but her huge collection of hazardous rubbish has been left behind.

A desperate Middlesbrough family were forced to spend thousands on calling out pest controllers after the out of control hoarding of their troubled neighbour left them plagued with mice and bluebottles.

More than four weeks after the woman was finally evicted, Steven Wilson and Sophie Johnson are still pleading with letting agents Collier Property Management to empty and fumigate the Nesham Road property.

The unkempt terraced house appears to be in a state of squalor, with its yard completely covered in mounds of stinking waste including food and cat litter.

Mr Wilson and Ms Johnson – who live with their three-year-old son Stanley and two-year-old daughter Elsie – have been begging Collier Property Management to tackle the “disgraceful” situation for more than a year.

The Northern Echo: RUBBISH: Steven Wilson ha been living next door to a hoarder for years, after several complaints they’ve managed to get her evicted but now the house has been left as it was and they’re overrun with vermin as a result Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

RUBBISH: Steven Wilson has been living next door to a hoarder for years Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

Mr Wilson said the habits of the hoarder next door had escalated over the past year-and-a-half to the point their own house became infested with bluebottles and mice that left droppings in their kitchen, storage units and Elsie’s Moses basket.

Mr Wilson said: “It’s been absolutely disgraceful. When she was finally evicted, we thought they’d get someone in straight away to get it sorted but it still hasn’t happened.

“We own this house so we can’t ask anyone else to pay the costs of Rentokil and it must have cost us thousands over the past year-and-a-half.

“The mice were all over, in our bedroom, in with the kids’ toys – then the bluebottles came after she was evicted.

“There were two cats and they only managed to find one of them, so there could even be a cat in there.

“It’s a risk to our children and we’ve had to replace so many things.”

David Collier, of Collier Property Management, said the firm had tried repeatedly, with the help of Middlesbrough Council, to tackle the issue.

Mr Collier said someone had now been appointed to clear the property and would begin work immediately.

He said: “We have worked to try and help the tenant improve the way she lives but without any long-term success.

“We had to accept she was not going to change despite everything done to help her and we advised the landlord to seek possession.

“The tenant recently vacated the property but did not clear it when she left.

“We have sympathy with the neighbours and once the property is cleared the landlord will start refurbishment.”

In an email to the firm, Ms Johnson said: “It is amazing that when threatened with an article, there is a vehicle at the property within hours.

“It is disappointing that it had to come to this for action to be taken promptly – I wonder how quickly it would have been addressed if mice were defecating in your baby’s bed.”