The Wandsworth Guardian has saved a Tooting mum who was left trapped in her own home by 12 inches of rat-infested water.

Sainabou Biyai, 29, who has two young children, was stranded for six days after builders blocked drains behind Mitcham Road.

It was only when the Wandsworth Guardian visited the scene that one landlord, Nazim Ali of Alcano Development, took action to clean up the mess.

Ms Biyai said: “I stayed inside for three days because when it was raining I couldn’t go out. My daughter couldn’t go to school."

Ms Biyai lives with her two children, Yassin, three, and five-month-old Ali, in a flat only accessible via a small alleyway, Knapton Mews.

For more than a year the entrance has been cluttered with construction rubbish, including skips, sand and gangplanks.

Wandsworth Council had no powers to intervene because the land was private – not a public highway.

It is not clear who made the mess, but when Mr Ali was informed the Wandsworth Guardian was taking photographs, he agreed to clear it up.

Ms Biyai’s friend, Geoffrey Avery, 57, said: “It’s disgusting that she had to be there with her little baby when rats are running around.”

Mr Ali said another developer was responsible for the flood but he cleared it out of courtesy for his neighbours.