A man living in a rodent-infested council flat has described it as like "living in the Victorian times".

Paul Banbury, 54, moved into his first-floor maisonette in Wallis Park, Northfleet, more than 20 years ago.

But over the past few years the tenant says the housing accommodation provided by Gravesham council has become "overrun with mice".

The council said this week it was the first it had heard of a problem at this particular address and would be "visiting as soon as possible to investigate".

Paul has spotted the furry critters running up and down his curtains and dead mice have also been found lodged between shelving units and, on one occasion, in the cage of his pet cockatoo.

Traces of the vermin are often found on the windowsill and Paul says drawers containing personal documents are often shredded and littered with droppings.

The tenant, who is diabetic and lives with his partner and her son, claims he has made numerous pleas for help.

Paul said: "We have found at least five or six dead mice in and around our flat in the last four to five weeks.

"We have had to put any perishable items into sealed boxes to ensure the mice don't get into it which has cost a lot of money. It’s like living in the Victorian times again."

But he added: "It is not an isolated incident, this has been going on for three to four years.

"We try to keep our place as clean as possible. But we should not have to be worried that we buy food and it is going to be eaten by mice, or there is a dead mouse stuck between our shelving and cabinet."

He says the issue flares up in "peaks" and the council had originally arranged for a company to call round and bait the property.

"They came out probably three times and then we never heard from them again," Paul explained. "We spoke to someone at the council and they said the company had gone bust. That was four to five years ago. It is always 'oh we will get back to you' but they never do."

Since then he claims all efforts to tackle the problem have been funded from his own pocket.

But he says laying down traps can be difficult as alongside his two pet dogs and cockatoo, the family also has two degus – small rodents similar to gerbils kept in cages.

Paul, who works as an IT engineer for a school in London, believes the problem is linked to the state of the bin chute near his flat which is often full of uncollected rubbish.

He claims the flat has long-standing issues with damp and mould and such conditions are "inviting" mice and rats to "take up residency".

The dead mice can go undetected for weeks and Paul says they are often only alerted to their presence due to the foul smell, or when his pet beagle sniffs them out.

"Someone needs to get this sorted," he added. "It does not help that bin area is left stuffed with black bags everywhere.

"People need to look after the estate and there are going to be people who don't abide by the rules but at the end of the day we are doing our best."

Paul says he is a good tenant who has worked all his life and has never been late on or missed any payments.

He added: "I'm not asking for massive changes. We are not unruly and we both work.

"All I’m asking is that I live my life in relative comfort and free from such disgusting conditions.

"We are not asking for millions of pounds; we are just asking for a standard of living that is acceptable."

A spokesman for Gravesham council said: “We have not previously been made aware of an issue within this address and are, of course, concerned to hear of this problem.

“There is an ongoing baiting programme at Wallis Park and we will step that up having been informed of this particular case.

“We have contacted the tenant and will be visiting as soon as possible to investigate and to see if there are any other measures we can take within the property to help address the issue.”