A shocked mum opened her wheelie bin to discover nine live rats inside. Footage of the rodents jumping around inside the bin captures the moment she made the horrifying discovery.
It is thought the animals had gnawed their way inside through the top of the bin before becoming stuck inside. But the problem is the tip of the iceberg according to people living in the area which they say is plagued with vermin.
Residents from Wallace Crescent in the village of Plean in Stirling say there are so many rats in the area children cannot play outside. And they are calling for action to resolve the problem.
Mother-of-six Debbie Burns told the Daily Record the issue started following a clean up of a fly-tip dump behind their homes. The £50,000 operation saw 155 tonnes of rubbish cleared from a M9 embankment.
She says since then her children – aged between 18 months and 17-years-old – have been unable to play outside amid safety concerns. Debbie said: “I have six kids in this house and can’t let them out in their own garden to play due to the whole street being plagued by rats since BEAR Scotland cleared the embankment behind the houses and disturbed the nests.”
BEAR Scotland say that “extensive fly-tipping” is to blame for the issues. A spokesman said: “When we were originally made aware of issues with vermin in this area we investigated and a programme of pest control was undertaken. However, the main issue was identified as extensive fly-tipping on Scottish Minister’s Land to the rear of the properties in Wallace Crescent.
“As a result, in February we completed a clear-up operation that saw the removal of 155 tonnes of waste material. The job had originally been estimated to cost over £20,000 but ultimately exceeded £50,000 due to the amount of material that had built up.
“We kept the residents updated to the situation, giving them information on how to contact us. It is suspected that this waste was a key contributing factor to the original issue. We have recently been made aware that there is an ongoing situation with vermin and our specialist pest control contractors have been tasked to undertake a further programme to treat the area.”
Wallace Crescent has 200 houses and the side that bounds the motorway is around 200-300 yards long. Debbie says that she contacted the council last month to arrange for pest control to attend but that nobody showed up.
Stirling Council’s environmental health team visited residents last week and say they are working with Transport Scotland and BEAR Scotland to ensure appropriate pest control measures are put in place to address the issue. A spokesperson said: “We realise this has been an alarming situation for residents and will be contacting council tenants directly to provide pest control treatment at no cost to them.
“In the meantime, we would encourage people to dispose of waste and recycling responsibly, using the facilities provided either at home or at recycling centres. The council regularly highlights fly-tipping as a crime that blights society, and this is one example of how negatively it can impact communities.”
Ward councillor Alasdair Macpherson believes overflowing bins – which are emptied every four weeks – could be contributing to the issue. He said: “Whilst I’ve no doubt that their nests were disturbed after BEAR Scotland removed debris, several residents told me that they saw rats climbing into grey bins that can’t close fully because they are overflowing due to them only being emptied once a month now.
“The problems residents are experiencing at Wallace Crescent problem has proven that moving to a monthly emptying has had unintended consequences that no one could have predicted.”
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