Residents of an attractive Manchester town are stuck in a horrific nightmare as they find themselves overwhelmed with rats.
Bolton is an attractive small town in Greater Manchester known for its friendly character – but a mum there has described her waking nightmare as she’s terrified of even opening her wheelie bin for fear of a rat leaping out. It comes as the rodents swarm into British homes, driven by flooding, cold weather, and the promise of food.
Tracy Baker, a 46 year old mum from New Bury estate in Farnworth, told the Manchester Evening News: “Sometimes you’re scared to open your wheelie bin in case they jump out at you.”
She and her children have even taken to to sleeping downstairs to avoid the critters. While the family have five cats with which to defend themselves, rats have caused substantial damage to their home.
She said they have destroyed sentimental items and even damaged a washing machine.
Residents of Bolton say the issue became much worse in the summer of 2023.
Ms Baker said it “does affect me mentally,” adding: “All of a sudden, you start hearing this scuffling in the walls. For a while I thought, ‘Am I going crazy?’
“The next minute, the washing machine has flooded the kitchen and I realised they had chewed through the pipe.
“I’ve got things in the attic that I’ve probably lost because the rats have destroyed them valuables and sentimental things like the kids’ toys. Since then, I haven’t gone back into the attic because I don’t know what I’m going to open my attic door to.
“I’ve lost all of that as far as I’m concerned.”
She has called out pest control, but continues to find dead rats in her garden – once even spotting nine corpses in her garden. She said they were “overunning the estate.”
Another New Bury estate resident said her 21-year-old daughter couldn’t sleep because of rats in the attic. Julie Lee, 55, said: “You could hear them. It was waking her up in the night. It’s disgusting.”
The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) said it has seen a 115 percent increase in people seeking advice on controlling rats over the last 90 days.
Pest expert Mark Moseley, founder of PestGone Environmental Ltd, offered some advice to keep rats away, saying: “If you’ve got squirrel or bird feeders in your garden you want to try and have a catch tray to catch the food from hitting the ground because rats find that food and they then stay in the local area.
“Do not put bins straight on the floor because foxes will rip through them and rats will then come in and feed from it. Get hardened bin containers and put them in the wheelie bins.
“Any foliage in your gardens, try and trim them back as best as possible. It stops habitats from being created in the foliage in people’s gardens.”
Nick Peel, who was elected leader of Botlon Council in June, has promised to explore the return of free pest control.
A Bolton Council spokesperson said the rat problem was an “isolated incident” and the issue will continually be overseen in the area.
The council said: “In areas with persistent rat problems, the council will take action including clearing dumped waste and working with United Utilities to bait sewers. While this appears to be a result of an isolated incident, we will monitor the situation in the area.”
They added that, as with other councils, homeowners are charged for pest control services with charges matching those in the private sector.
