A rodent expert has warned rats are rising by 30 per cent every year in Southampton.
Sean Wheelan is the man behind a pest control firm working in Southampton, HPC247 Whelan Pest Control.
He has warned that Southampton is facing the worst rat epidemic he has seen in almost 30 years in the business.
Sean said: “I have never seen so many rats on the streets of Southampton.
“Year on year we are seeing a 30% increase in rats in areas such as Portswood and Shirley.”
According to Sean, there are many factors as to why this is the case, the biggest being that central government is not giving councils enough money to deal with pests and waste services.
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He added: “In the Polygon area we are seeing houses of multiple occupation with just a single bin.
“That means that six people are all using one bin meaning that rubbish is being put into black bags and left outside - this of course invites rats.
“People also feeding the birds in the city’s parks is attracting rats and not something I would encourage.
“I would be happy to sit down with Southampton City Council, free of charge, to see if we can work out how to deal with this citywide issue.”
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