A woman claims to have seen rats as big as cats in a neighbour’s garden.
Amanda Core is the latest person to complain about an infestation of rats in the Tudor Street and Gordon Street area of Slaithwaite.
She believes the rats are taking advantage of a neighbour who leaves out bread and seed for the birds.
Amanda, who lives in a council flat on Gordon Street, says the problem is getting worse – and the local authority seems unable to do anything because her neighbour owns the property.
“I have never seen as many rats in my life,” she said. “On day I saw seven or eight in the next door garden. The other morning I saw rats coming from their shed. Two of the rats looked pregnant and were as big as cats.”
Amanda has made several calls to Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing and Kirklees Council Pest Control.
But she claims little has been done about the problem, aside from a single visit by pest controllers.
The 49-year-old, a former fork lift truck driver, phoned the council’s pest control office this week but was told that nothing could be done until early January.
Her complaints follow similar claims by several neighbours who have had rat infestations in their homes in recent weeks.
A spokesman for Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing said: “We are working to establish the facts of this case with our patch officers and our partners in Kirklees Council Pest Control.
“Ms Core’s neighbour is an owner-occupier which does limit our ability to sort matters such as this out.
“However, we will continue to offer Ms Core our support and be in touch with Pest Control at the earliest opportunity to establish what further measures can be taken to assist.”
