Residents of Sydney's Olympic Park fear the upcoming Royal Easter Show could be a "disaster" amid reports of a rat plague in the area over the past six months.
Locals said there was an increase in the number of rats running around the streets, parking areas, and outside restaurants.
"It's supposed to be the centre of the events and entertainment industry in Australia," local restaurant owner Ahmed Chandab said.
"A negative image of Olympic Park … it's not doing us any favours."
Pest control business Flick said there had been a surge in interest from residential and commercial customers in the area.
"Over the past few months we have certainly received an uptake in enquires around Sydney's Olympic Park and Parramatta surrounds for rodents," said Flick Sydney general manager Shaun Azhar.
The Sydney Royal Easter Show is due to begin on April 6 at the Olympic Park site.
Mr Chandab said the number of rats would leave a bad impression on visitors if the problem was not fixed.
"It's going to kind of be a bit of a disaster, to be honest," Mr Chandab said.
The neighbouring suburb of Wentworth Point was also experiencing a surge in rat sightings over the past four months.
Clement Lun said his community association had gone from doing pest control every quarter to every month due to the number of rats.
"At night-time when you go out you can see them jumping about in the distance," Mr Lun said.
Businesses losing trade
Mr Chandab said the rats' presence has had a significant impact on his pizza restaurant.
"A lot of the residents are avoiding eating at the local shops now just purely out of seeing the rats," Mr Chandab said.
"I've had customers scream outside my shop because [rats] ran across their feet while they're walking past."
Mr Chandab said he brought the issue up with building management and Parramatta Council, but felt their efforts had not done enough to clear up the issue.
"I just want the rats gone, that's all I'm asking for," he said.
Olympic Park resident Jasmine Ho said she regularly saw multiple rat corpses, some of which had been rotting in the street for more than a week, while walking her dog.
"I'll just have to pick [the dog] up and avoid all those areas," Ms Ho said.
"I just find it very unsafe, especially not knowing what kind of poison it is. Or if they've been putting different traps around the grass.
"It's just very unhygienic when you've got pets … and lots of young kids."
State authority involved in response
The state government-run Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA) said it was aware of rodent sightings around residential properties in the area.
"We are working actively with the strata management organisations of the properties to improve waste handling practices at each property and to encourage each strata organisation to ensure effective — and most critically, collaborative — pest control plans are in place," it said.
"SOPA has also installed bait stations at various locations external to the properties."
ABC Radio Sydney has contacted Parramatta Council for comment.
