FOUR-year-old Sammie Preece is frightened of sleeping alone after twice being scared by rats in her bedroom.

She first spotted a baby rat sitting in one of her shoes and then three weeks later a fully-grown rat jumped on to her bed.

Her mum, Liz, said: "Sammie was screaming. The rat ran from underneath her doll's pram, round the room and jumped up on to her bed. She was terrified.'' The vermin was killed by Sammie's dad, John, who hit it with a shovel.

Mrs Preece of Sharp Street, Burnley, said: "Sammie now sleeps in our room, but she still wakes up saying she can hear rats scratching. She is not sleeping properly and is even afraid to go up to the toilet on her own.''

The problem with the pests began some months ago when a rat was seen coming from a broken drain in the back yard of a house further along the street.

The house in now unoccupied, but the drain has not been repaired and other residents in the area have also complained of seeing rats. One was killed by a neighbour's dog and another was seen on a back wall.

Mrs Preece said: "After the first one we reported it to the pest control officer in the environmental health department and poison was put down.''

But last Sunday the second rat got into Sammie's bedroom at the back of the house.

At Mrs Preece's insistence the drain was baited and her husband covered the hole with wood.

She said: "But they would not take action to repair the drain properly. They said it would be trespassing.

"An enforcement notice has now been sent to the owner of the property who has 21 days to deal with the problem.

"Surely immediate action should be taken in circumstances like this when there is a danger to health.''

Mrs Preece was today intending to see a solicitor to see if there was any further action she could take.

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