The rat rampage

Britain's rat population has soared by nearly a third in the past four years.

An estimated 60 million brown rats now inhabit our sewers, cities and waterways, a report said yesterday.

The rodents narrowly outnumber the human population.

Experts say measures must be taken soon to stop a further explosion in numbers.

The 29 per cent rise is blamed on milder, wetter winters as well as fast-food litter which the creatures feast on.

The amount of rubbish on our streets has grown by a reported 80 per cent in 35 years.

Barrie Sheard, of the National Pest Technicians Association - who conducted the study - pointed to an alarming increase in rat numbers in the summer months.

The 2001 count was 48 per cent up on 1998 with global warming a likely factor.

'Until these last four to five years, our summer months were always recognised as a period of the year when rat complaints were always at a far reduced level,' Mr Sheard said.

The worst hit area was the Isle of Man which saw a 45 per cent annual increase in rats.

In Scotland the figure rose by nearly a quarter. Eastern England, Northern Ireland and Yorkshire enjoyed the only falls.

Last May the Earl's Court area of London was overrun with rats.

The borough council blamed the problem on the scrapping of routine baiting of sewers.

Mr Sheard blames fewer sewer surveys and the decay of Victorian sewerage systems in urban areas for allowing more rats to escape to the surface.

Brown rats can carry potentially fatal human infections such as Weil's Disease.

Mr Sheard said the trend for councils to charge for rat eradication was deterring the public from reporting rat sightings. 'This is hiding any growth in rat numbers in these areas, as council tax payers are loath to report problems as they may now get a bill,' he said.

'Charging policies will be hiding a reservoir of a large number of rats being allowed to increase and multiply without any interference from humans.

'Just think what it may cost the community when we have in approximately three to four years time the possibility of a rat population explosion.'

'Unreliable and meaningless' targets set for local councils by the Government have also diverted resources away from pest control, according to Mr Sheard.

Keep Britain Tidy estimates that 16 per cent of councils impose callout fees at charges of up to £65 to eradicate the pests.

The group's spokesman Peter Gibson said: 'The worrying thing is not just their numbers, but their behaviour.

'Rats are not just in the sewers any more.

'They are coming out into the open, on to the streets - because they know that's where the most food is.'

Last year the group launched a campaign warning the public that discarded litter was helping rat numbers grow at alarming rates.

The good news is that the mice population continues to decline. Between 1998 and 2001, total numbers fell 7.5 per cent.