Rats and mice are plaguing takeaways and food businesses in Ravensthorpe.
And now Kirklees Council and Yorkshire Water are to carry out a joint investigation to find out where they are coming from.
Clr Steve Hall, Cabinet member for Place, said: “A few takeaways have been closed at Ravensthorpe, Kirklees and Yorkshire Water are working together. Clearly there is a problem down there with rats.”
Kirklees Council’s Food Safety Team closed two businesses in June last year because of mouse and rat infestation.
A council spokesman said the first was Kebab Range at 768 Huddersfield Road. Rodent droppings were found throughout the premises and cleanliness was poor. The business remained closed for five days.
The second shop to be shut, due to mice, was Give and Take at 680 Huddersfield Road. It re-opened after a week.
Last month the Examiner reported how Bismillah Roti House at 666 Huddersfield Road was inspected and also found to have a large infestation of rats and mice. Rat droppings were found on tables and in the food preparation area.
The takeaway was closed for three weeks while the premises were cleaned up. The business re-opened on January 23.
The council spokesman said: “Investigations are ongoing to establish the source of the infestation in the area.”
Kirklees has more than 5,000 food businesses and both Clr Hall and Kirklees leader Clr David Sheard said Government funding criteria for the food inspection service wasn’t fair.
Clr Sheard said: “If funding was on the basis of need then we are one of the largest local food authorities and we would expect higher funding but, unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Authorities with very few food premises will get the same funding as we do.”
Clr Hall added: “Kirklees has more than 5,000 food premises, it’s the fourth largest food authority outside of London.
“Our staff are doing a fabulous job at the moment. We know times are hard and I hope they can continue doing a great job.”
Kirklees has the equivalent of 8.2 full-time staff – and around double the workload recommended in national guidelines, which suggest they would need the equivalent of 15.3 full-time workers.
The food safety and advice team is responsible for food hygiene investigations, complaints, food poisoning concerns and responding to Food Standards Agency alerts.
Enforcement data in 2013/14 showed that 1,032 premises had written warnings, two were prosecuted and 35 were served with improvement notices.
