A MOTHER claims her children were put in danger after moving into a council home she states was littered with cat urine and faeces.

Omowonuola Oyebode, 33, claims the strong odour of urine made all her children sick, but her nine-year-old daughter Oluwasemilore, who has sickle cell disease, became unable to breath and was admitted to intensive care with a chest infection.

Miss Oyebode, lost her 11-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, to the disease two years ago.

She fears the state of the home may have made the condition, which causes deformed red blood cells, worse.

Echo:

Family - Miss Oyebode with five of her children

She said: “The smell of urine was so strong. But when I contacted the council I was told this was because it had been shut for a while.

“All my children, and me, began feeling sick but Oluwasemilore was the worse. She was saying she couldn’t breath and that her throat was closing up.

“The council said they couldn’t come out until five days later, but I did not want to risk my daughter’s health so after some research online, I read about the dangers of inhaling cat urine and how to clean it.

“I went and bought some baking soda and apple cider vinegar to deep-clean the place. So by time the council sent someone it smelt a lot better.”

The family had been placed in temporary accommodation before Basildon Council found this permanent home for her family – a four-bedroomed house which she moved into on September 16.

She said: “I am angry that they are taking it so lightly, not realising a life could have been lost.

“We shouldn’t have been moved into the property without it being treated first.”

A spokesman for Basildon Council, said: “We have been working very hard to ensure that Miss Oyebode and her family is settled into her new property to her satisfaction.

“The property has been thoroughly cleaned and a number of internal and external repairs that Miss Oyebode has reported are being attended to promptly.

"Despite visiting on more than one occasion to investigate reports of foul smells and bugs, we have been unable to find any evidence supporting these reports.”