A mum of four and her children will be spending Christmas homeless after coming “face to face” with rats following a leak that destroyed her property and left the family with "nothing".

Marie Bakewell, 43, a teaching assistant from Orpington, said it won’t be “a happy Christmas after all” as her home was flooded on December 12.

She told the News Shopper that she felt “disgusted” after finding "dirty rats" running around the kitchen that was left underwater as a result of the flood.

She said: “I came face to face with rats in my kitchen after the flooding.

“It makes you feel sick and dirty to see rats. It’s a horrible feeling.”

Marie said she felt “ignored” by Clarion Housing, owners of the building, after calling “several” times for help.

A spokesperson for Clarion Housing said they initially had difficulty in gaining access to the property above Marie's home (where the leak was coming from) to investigate the problem.

The mum of four told News Shopper that the family now have "nothing" after the flood destroyed their home just days before Christmas.

She said: “It’s heartbreaking, truly heartbreaking.

“It’s Christmas next week, we’ve got nothing. Our home has been destroyed.

“Luckily, we can spend Christmas day with my mum and dad, but we don’t know where we going to end up after.

“Our belongings, cupboards and carpets are soaked underwater.

“It’s all ruined. It’s not going to be a happy Christmas after all.

“I feel like I’m getting completely ignored several, I called their emergency number on Sunday (December 12), and no one turned up.

“I struggle to get through to them (Clarion Housing).

“I called them again on Monday (December 13) and someone finally took note of what happened, but no one turned up.”

After getting through to the housing company, her family were put into “temporary accommodation” in Bexleyheath eight days after the house was flooded.

She added: “It took them eight days to get us out of the flat and put us in temporary accommodation in Bexleyheath.

“It all sounds good but only for a couple of days, but then my eldest daughter she’s got to share a room with my eldest son.

“I’m sharing a bed with my youngest son and my other daughters next to me in another bed.”

A spokesperson for Clarion Housing said they now plan to implement a “full treatment programme” to “ensure other residents are not impacted.”

The spokesperson said: “We are aware of the leaks at Ms Bakewell’s home and our contractors have visited several times to complete repairs.

“Unfortunately, one of the leaks stemmed from the property above her flat and we initially had difficulty in gaining access to the property to investigate the problem.

“We have now completed the repair and stopped the leak into the property and do appreciate the inconvenience the initial delay had caused Ms Bakewell.

“We instructed our pest control contractors to arrange a visit to Ms Bakewell’s home to carry out a full inspection when the issue was reported to us on December 16.

“We plan to implement a full treatment programme as needed in Ms Bakewell’s home and at her building to ensure other residents are not impacted.”

Have you got a story for us? You can contact us here.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.

Sign up to our newsletters to get updates sent straight to your inbox.