Bolton: Resident concerned after rats wreak havoc

Alexandra Barlow, who lives on Bashall Street in Heaton, says that the issue with rats in the area has been ongoing since she moved in two years ago, which has gradually become worse.

She said that some of the neighbours said that it goes back even further, with the previous tenants experiencing the same problem.

Damage to residents' kitchen

She added: “We have seen a significant number of rats spotted during the day and night, including dead ones in the street.

“I think it is coming from more and more rubbish being littered in the streets.

“It’s got to the point where they are climbing into people’s homes and eating into their walls.

“We have seen them in the front street, as well as the back street.”

Rat caught in neighbour's kitchen

Alexandra says the majority of them rent, and she is renting privately, but there isn’t a lot that the landlord can do or could have done to prevent the issue.

She added: “It’s not the landlord’s fault.

 “And the council said it is not to do with them because the gutters don’t belong to them.

“United Utilities have been called to drain the gutters but the rats that live elsewhere will be left alone.”

The council has said that when it comes to private renting, they are not able to act, but they do offer a range of  pest control services, depending on the issue.

However, Alexandra has said that it is "not affordable" to pay someone to come out, because she doesn’t know how many rats there are.

Alexandra says she is worried that her and her eight-month-old daughter will have to move out because they don’t know where the rats are sometimes.

She added: “It’s terrifying because we don’t know where the rats have been.

“We have put rat traps inside and boxes outside.

“And we just want it to be sorted.”