FOOT-LONG rats scurry into homes through drain pipes, flock around bin areas and run over the feet of locals – even during the day.
This dystopian scene is an everyday reality for residents on an estate in Burley, Leeds, where many are terrified to go out at night because of the infestation of super-rodents.
Locals sat the pests are so big that they have to keep their cats locked up for safety and parents are afraid to let their children go out to play, fearing for their health.
Pregnant mum Lucy Battle, 22, is the latest on the estate to complain to the council after she found a rat in her kitchen cupboard.
She has had to move everything to higher shelves, pack food up in containers and keep her cats out of the kitchen until the rat has been found.
The mum–of-one put CCTV under her cupboards and now has footage of the rat her mum named Roland, after the TV superstar puppet from the 80s.
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The crafty creature is seen sniffing around, avoiding the cheese trap she laid down and coming close up to the camera for an inspection.
She told The Sun: “I found the rat in my cupboard a couple of weeks ago and it terrified me. I was advised by the housing association to remove all items and disinfect all the cupboards and put food in containers.
“I had put down traps but when pest control came out they told me to remove them and let the rat poison do its work.
“I haven’t seen the rat now for a week but when pest control came back to see they couldn’t find it. We don't know if it has escaped or if it has died. I suppose I will find out if I start to smell anything.
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“I am now living upside-down until we know.
“Pest control seem to think it's come in through my drain pipes because we have no external holes where it could have come in.
“I have been told to make sure I keep my doors and windows shut but this is no way to live."
Lucy lives in the property with her two-year-old son and partner, and is expecting another baby in July.
She is terrified at the prospect of rats living in the house alongside her newborn.
She says: “They carry disease, and they wee and poo everywhere they go, leaving their disease behind. It’s not safe.
“There are so many rats around here that you see them during the day. There are a couple of boys who live further down who I caught playing games with them, chasing them down the road with a stick.
”I have a cat so he quite often comes home with dead rats. There is a lot of prey for them, but I am worried for my cat. I don’t want him going after the rats.”
Beasts in the bins
Environmental engineer Sarhat Kilinc, 35, lives on the same street, Chiswick Terrace, with wife, Irem, 34, and their son, Ruzgar, one.
The lines of old brick homes are dotted with bin yards that are often piled up with rubbish and Sarhat, whose house is next to one of those, complains of continual scratching and squeaking on a night.
One night his neighbour, a student living on the other side of the binyard, knocked on his door in terror.
He said: “She was so frightened. A rat had got into her home and she wanted help get it out.
“We could hear the rat moving around but we couldn’t see it. We didn’t find it. In the end she had to call her landlord who got pest control out to kill it.
“It turned out it had got in through a hole in the wall which has now been blocked up.
“There are a lot of students around here and at the end of each term landlords have a clear out and throw piles of rubbish into the bin yards.
“I do my best to keep it clear but I can’t keep up.
“It is not fair how we are having to live. We have been in the UK for a year and didn’t know much about the area when we moved here. We are now looking for somewhere else.”
Kids' health fears
The area of Burley, on the outskirts of the city centre, boasts Spice Girl, Mel B, as its most famous daughter.
It is now home to a mix of families and students, many living in multiple occupancy households with overflowing bins.
The large number of takeaways in the area results in food waste being slung on to the street.
People also put food out for the pigeons – with the rats eating what they leave behind.
All these factors create a hotbed for rats to breed and multiply – and living among humans makes them more brazen.
Father-of-four Adil Ali, 28, lives at the back of a takeaway and his car is often damaged by rats who crawl underneath and sit on his engine for warmth.
He has had to remove the heat shield on the bonnet of his Volkswagon, which was gnawed by rats.
“We really don’t like being here. Each day we take the kids to my mum's because we don’t want them playing out here," he said.
“We are on a council list to move because we can’t let the kids come out here. It is far too dirty. We worry about our health.
“When you go into your home you’re wiping your feet first to make sure you’re not trailing rat droppings in.
“We have a newborn child. And there are loads of kids on this estate. It is not good for kids.”
Another neighbour claims the rodents have a routine, coming out at dusk from a grate behind a takeaway then scuttling across the road and over some stones to settle under cars.
She said: “You can time them like clockwork. I won’t go out of my house at night anymore, they’re awful. I’m scared to death.
“If you leave your bin bag outside while you answer your phone it will be ripped open when you go back out.
”The problem is not a lack of bin collection but a lack of bins. You’ve got a lot of student houses, with a lot of people living in one house and one bin to cater for them. It’s not enough, there needs to be more bins.
“I can’t see pest control being the answer. We don’t want poison putting down because there are a lot of children and cats. That sounds dangerous to me.”
Her friend, Joanne Wilson, 51, said: “These are big rats. I wouldn't say they are as big as cats but they are a foot long. The smaller ones you see are the babies.
“The rats are cheeky. They’ll take a look at you before they saunter off, they’re not bothered. My cat looked at one the other day and looked at me as if to say 'I don’t fancy my chances with that'.
“I once opened my bin and one jumped out at me. I screamed my head off. They make my skin crawl.”
'Rancid' smell
Law graduate and charity worker Sean Harmon, 23, said: “You see rats wherever you go.
“You’ll often see dead ones in the road that have been run over by cars.
“There's a distinctive smell when there are a lot of rats around – a disgusting old litter, musty smell. It’s rancid.
“People do their best to clear up but tackling a bin yard means you are going to have to deal with rats too and that puts people off.”
Nightmares
Danny Dalvuca, a 41-year-old who works at the council recycling centre, said: “It is so bad here that I’ve even had them run over my feet. They are not scared of anything. It’s like they hold their head up high and say: ‘This is our turf now’.
“At night I’ll hear a cat howl and think: ‘I bet a rat’s got it’. The cats are scared of rats around here. I won’t go out of the house without shutting my door.
"When they run along the street they’ll skirt the wall, right along the front of our doors.
“I’m now having nightmares about them. They’re creeping into my dreams.”
Hamshe Priti, 24, who works at the general store, said: “Every day I see about three or four walking down the hill together in a little line. Every day. It’s crazy. The amount of rats is terrible.”
Media vet Pete Wedderburn told The Sun: “Rats are super intelligent. They are all about self preservation so will do what they can to survive. They are certainly savvy to traps.
“Rats need three things to survive – water, food and shelter. The best way to eradicate them is to take away those things.
“Get rid of food properly and remove piles of waste, keeping bin yards clear and tidy.
“It is important to be wary of rats, they cause serious diseases, with Weil's disease being contracted from the urine of infected rats.”
Weil’s is an illness that starts with flu-like symptoms, with more severe cases leading to meningitis, kidney failure and other serious conditions. In rare cases the disease can be fatal.
Chris Sullivan, partner in the firm Discreet Pest Control Services, said: “We do go to the area of LS6 a lot. There is a major problem there.
“You have a lot of students and low income families living in social housing alongside a lot of takeaways – that creates an area perfect for rats.
“They are high density population areas creating a lot of rubbish and not enough bins.
“People need to dispose of waste properly, close bins tightly, look after their surroundings. Wherever there is waste you will get rats.
“I once visited a student house where the tenants had saved up 182 pizza boxes to see how many they could get through in a year, and then they wondered why they had rats.
“Rats are not scared of people and they carry disease. You should be doing your best to make sure you don’t have them.”
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A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “Council services, including pest control, waste management, cleaner neighbourhood teams and Housing Leeds continue to work together to make sure pest problems are dealt with as quickly and effectively as possible.
“We would advise anyone experiencing any problems with pests to contact the council as soon as possible so we can offer advice and guidance."
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