16439/2A WESTBURY couple fear for their baby's health and their own sanity if they cannot move out of their cramped bedsit.

Phil Mead and Danielle Elliott live with seven-month-old son Cameron in private rented accommodation in Fore Street and are desperate to get council house accommodation.

Despite regular rat invasions, a leaky roof and condensation problems they have been told they could be on the West Wiltshire District Council's waiting list for another two or three years.

Mr Mead, 31, who is unemployed, said: "More than anything we are concerned for Cameron's health and our physical and mental health is slowly deteriorating.

"We've had enough of it. It's affecting our relationship and we are biting each other's heads off for no reason.

"It feels to me the council are saying you've got a roof over your head so what's the problem. It's getting to the stage where we don't know where to turn."

The couple moved into the bedsit opposite the Ludlow Arms a year ago and have been on the council's rehousing list for two years.

They cannot afford more suitable private accommodation and have been campaigning to be seen as a higher priority since Cameron's birth in June.

Mr Mead has compiled a list of problems with the bedsit and pointed out it has no fire escape and an open fire.

He said: "We are next to the main road, the flat fills up with petrol fumes and I don't want my baby breathing that in.

"Every time a lorry goes past the bed shudders and his cot shakes. Every time it rains the water pours through the ceiling. It's like turning on a tap."

The couple discovered rats under their bed and in the kitchen, which Mr Mead filmed, but said a council officer did not want to look at the video.

Miss Elliott, 20, said: "The rats urinate all over the carpet and in Cameron's cot.

"I've got a letter from my health visitor and doctor saying he was being put at risk and we gave that to the council, but nothing has been done. My health visitor has referred me to a counsellor as it's getting too much."

Council spokesman Louise Knox said the council didn't comment on individual cases.

She said: "A points system is used to allocate homes to people on the housing register. Those in most need are given priority.

"Where a client is not statutorily homeless, the housing needs team will encourage them to find a suitable private let and we can help them to do this."