Family's rats in loo nightmare

A rat

THE discovery of rats in a toilet bowl and a bathtub has prompted a warning for households to report pest problems.

Denise Crompton, contacted the Chronicle after her son found two dead rats in the toilet and one rat barely alive in the bathtub at her home on Alton Street - a short walk away from the Honeywell Lane fly-tipping spot.

Her son killed the third rat and flushed them down the toilet which it is believed gave them access to the bathroom from the sewers.

The incident was not reported to the council which, on being informed, sympathised with Denise and urged residents to report any issues as soon as they become aware of them.

Although Denise did not report the issue, she said she now feels dirty after the incident and believes the council must do more to prevent rats across the borough.

She said: "There were two in the toilet that were dead and one in the bath which was struggling.

"The rats have come from the sewers and the council are making it our problem and it should be theirs, it's just unfair.

"It was my son who found them and he went mad, he wouldn't let me upstairs.

"I'm afraid to go into the kitchen or to go into the toilet, but what else can I do? Why should I suffer?

"It feels like you are being invaded and you feel dirty, I feel like my house is unclean.

"I have lived in this house for nearly 14 years and the area has just gone down and down.

"I would like the council to put something down the drains."

Despite this incident statistics show that in the last 12 months the council have responded to 558 rat reports in Oldham - a 17 per cent decrease on the previous 12 months.

Cllr Barbara Brownridge said: "The last request we received from this property was in May last year but there were no rats mentioned.

"We advise residents to report issues like this to our team as soon as they become aware of them.

"We sympathise with the resident and urge her to contact our response services so we can identify and tackle the issue."

Any residents with issues relating to rats are asked to call response services on 0161-770 2244.