'Plague of rats' hits West London

The streets of one of London's wealthiest boroughs are suffering a mass outbreak of rats.

Now Kensington and Chelsea council may sue Thames Water Utilities to force it to introduce tougher measures after recording a "growing incidence" of rat complaints.

A cluster of streets in the Earls Court area are now festooned with the creatures, with some horrified residents reporting them scurrying around outside their basement flats.

The Tory-run council blames a decision seven years ago by TWU to scrap its policy of "routine baiting" in its vast network of sewers. Critics say it was done partly to save cash. Now there are around 1,000 complaints a year in the borough.

Council deputy leader Daniel Moylan said: "In our view, the sewers aren't being properly looked after. We have written to TWU several times, asking them to re-introduce sewer baiting. But so far that hasn't happened. We still hope to persuade them but, if not, we may have to be more forceful via legal action."

The council cannot force the company to bait the pipes, as they do not count as "premises", but borough lawyers are looking at a new claim of "common law nuisance".

Any case will be watched closely by other local councils, many of whom have made similar complaints to water companies nationwide.

A TWU spokeswoman said: "We have found that it is much more efficient to control rats by responding to sightings rather than just routinely bait our sewers."

Kensington and Chelsea council plans to put TWU's claims to the test by asking them for information on exactly which areas have been baited - comparing them to a specially-drawn "ratmap" of rodent hotspots.