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Experts called in to control rats ‘invasion’

27/ 7/2005

BUSHES and dropped litter outside Dunnes Store are providing the perfect conditions for rats to thrive, pest controllers discovered last week.

Following reports of sightings of the rodents a team from Rochdale council visited the area and discovered a new infestation.

Morrisons have now called in specialists to tackle the problem and assistant manager Ady Fallon said: "We are doing everything we can to deal with it."

It is an area where previous problems have occurred and the council's environmental control manager Andrew Gumley explained: "Bushes provide natural habitat and if they have a food source then we have seen that rats are happy to live above ground and no longer seem fazed by humans in close proximity.

"Even wrappers can provide enough nourishment for them to thrive."

He said that while the bushes are obviously an attractive feature which improve the look of the area but they are equally attractive to rodents looking for a home.

He encouraged people to be careful about dropping food and litter adding that if their food source is removed the cover is no longer so appealing and re-infestation is less likely to occur.

There have been other sightings of rats in the town centre, including in the passageway next to the Heywood Advertiser office.