Dog owners are getting their pets to kill hordes of rats blighting a back street in Newcastle city centre.
That's according to the Tyneside Irish Centre, which said it is seeing families turning up at the lane which runs behind Stowell Street and Newcastle's town wall to get their dogs to hunt the rats "for fun".
It comes after those working in the area highlighted how up to a dozen rats can be seen at once in the back street on a daily basis and raised concerns that it is becoming a health hazard.
