An investigation was underway today after an OAP in a care home had her face, hands and body gnawed – by a giant RAT.
The petrified woman, in her 80s, screamed out in the night as the rogue rodent fled flood waters and crept into her bed.
Staff at privately-run Hadleigh Court care home in Torquay, Devon, are said to have found the woman with teeth marks to her face and arms.
She was rushed to hospital by ambulance but her injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
The gruesome incident comes after local authorities warned residents returning to flood-ravaged homes to brace themselves for an invasion of rats.
The animals have been forced out of their sewers because of the rising floodwaters and are climbing up drainpipes or clambering inside cracks in walls to find places to nest.
Pest controllers warn they could spread a number of diseases including Weil’s disease and Salmonella.
A spokesman for South West Ambulance Service confirmed that paramedics were dispatched to the privately-run #460-a-week home at 1:40am on Sunday.
Staff have refused to discuss the incident but Torbay Council has begun an investigation.
A spokeswoman said: “The matter has been reported to Torbay Council by the Care Quality Commission and is being investigated.”
A nurse who came to the door of the care home said: “I’m not willing to comment – I’ve got nothing so say about it.
“I’m not senior enough and there’s not one senior here that is able or will want to comment.”
A second worker later refused to come to the main door of the home.
Speaking through an intercom system, she said: “No-one here is willing to say anything on the matter.
“Now would you please get off the property.”
Britain has been drenched by heavy rains and storms for much of the past month causing rivers to swell and flooding thousands of homes and businesses.
The village of Muchelney in the neighbouring county of Somerset has been forced to bring in supplies by boat after being completely cut off by the rising flood waters.
