Neath Port Talbot residents requested to assist as lockdown fuels UK rise in rodents

General picture. WalesOnline / Gayle Marsh

Submitted by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

Neath Port Talbot residents are reminded that too much food for birds can attract rats.

The UK’s rat population is believed to have grown significantly as many of the buildings in the city center are vacant and the streets are quieter during curfew. The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) announced that around half of the professionals surveyed during the lockdown saw an increase in activity.

• Rats can typically have six litters per year and have between six and twelve pups.

A spokesman for Neath Port Talbot Council said: “Some rat activity has been observed in the bushes and drainage channels on the edge of the Afan River in downtown Port Talbot, where large quantities of bread for pigeons were also placed.

“We would like to ask that people across the county do not over-feed pigeons and other wild birds as this could worsen rodent population growth – something that is being seen across the UK.”

The Neath Port Talbot Council has received 17 percent more calls regarding rats and mice since the coronavirus pandemic began and responded to them with required bait work / treatments.

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For the past three years the council had a contract with Welsh Water to carry out bait work on local sewers. This work is carried out both routinely and reactively when complaints of vermin are received in the area.

Should a witness resident in a certain area be vermin, he can report this to pestcontrol@npt.gov.uk.