'Too scared to open my front door - housesholders' fears as rat infestation reports rise

A man has said he lives with "constant worry" about rats getting into his home as reports of infestations across Cardiff rise.

David Armstrong, 62, who has lived in the city for 15 years, said the rat problem near his home was "disgusting" and "quite scary".

Cardiff council's pest control services saw a 10% increase in call-outs to rats last year, while a private pest control company said the rat situation in the city was the worst they had seen in 36 years of business.

The council said rats were "adaptable, highly mobile and breed rapidly", adding that city residents should ensure all waste was disposed of correctly.

The British Pest Control Association said there were anecdotal reports of rat increases in towns and cities across the UK.

Mr Armstrong, who lives in Grangetown, said the rodents had been a particular problem near his home for the past two years since communal rubbish bins overflowed onto the floor.

"One of the maintenance guys called me over, when he cleared the rubbish up and he lifted up a concrete slab," said Mr Armstrong.

"Inside was a plastic carrier bag with about ten baby rats in it."

The rubbish has since been cleared up by the housing association responsible for the upkeep of Mr Armstrong's estate.

But Mr Armstrong showed BBC News what appeared to be a rat burrow in the area around the communal bin.

"There's children who play about here and they could be picking stuff up that the rats have been on," he said.

"I have seen the bin men chasing rats up the street trying to stand on them.

"If I'm out at my car, I have to close the [front] door behind me.

"My main fright is them getting into the house. I just don't want it… I don't want them here full stop.

"In a country like Wales you shouldn't have to live with this on our doorsteps, with a constant worry about a rat getting in the house.

"Once they get in and you can't get them out, that's a big problem."

Private pest control companies in the city have also reported more sightings.

Dalton Pest Services Ltd said it had "seen a huge increase in rodent call-outs" in the city, and said "the phone hasn't stopped ringing with distressed customers".

Gareth Davies, from Pest and Property Solutions, said in 36 years of business he had never received so many call-outs to rats.

"We still have a massive rubbish problem, certainly in Cardiff I can speak of," he said.

"People discard rubbish in sort of hedgerows, throw stuff out of cars, part-eaten food.

"There's rubbish mounted up where the refuse people don't get to."

Mr Davies said seagulls and rats attacked bin bags on the streets, creating food sources, and said higher temperatures due to climate change meant rats could now "breed all year round".

He also questioned the effectiveness of some rat poison available to purchase in shops and online, warning some products were "just not strong enough".

But for others, living alongside rats is the price you pay for city life.

Neil Harris, who has lived in Cathays since 2018, and said the creatures get a "bad rap".

"They are literally everywhere," he said.

"I have them in the garden, I saw one just over there running across the street at the end of last week.

"I would suggest there's probably rats looking at us right as we speak.

"I've had dead rats underneath my floorboards. I've had the nuisance, or at least the landlord had the nuisance, of trying to get rid of them.

"But we don't complain because we recognise that it's part and parcel of living in the area.

"We can manage the problem, but we won't get rid of them, and they're not the beasties people think they are."

According to the RSPCA, there are only two species of rats living in the UK - brown rats and black rats.

Brown rats, which are greyish brown and can grow to around 27cm (10in), are by far the most common.

Getting an accurate picture of exactly how many of them there are is difficult - previous estimates have ranged from 1.5 million to 120 million.

Last year, Cardiff council said its pest control service carried out 3,166 call-outs to reports of the rodents - a 10% increase since 2023 and a 15% increase since 2022.

The rise is not unique to Cardiff - of the 14 councils that provide a pest control service in Wales, all but Bridgend and Merthyr reported an increase in rat call-outs in 2023.

Freedom of Information request data published by Direct Line last year found that councils across the UK carried out 271,343 residential visits for rodent infestations in 2023 - an 18% increase on 2022.

Niall Gallagher from the British Pest Control Association said councils faced "some real challenges".

"Ultimately, we do have less frequent waste collections that then allows us to have a greater risk of road infestations in those areas," Mr Gallagher added.

He said while professional pest control services were the best way to deal with infestations, prevention was better.

"It's definitely a community and a public health issue," he said.

"Cleaning up, proofing or housekeeping. These are the top three things that we'd always recommend to everyone."

A Cardiff council spokesperson said rats were "adaptable, highly mobile and breed rapidly".

"This combination makes it a difficult task to eradicate rats without suitable training," the spokesperson said.

They advised city residents to ensure their properties were free from holes, vents were not damaged or missing and drainage systems were in good working order.

"Remove potential nesting sites by keeping yards and gardens clean and tidy, and cut back overgrown areas," they added.

"Be aware that by feeding wild birds or other animals - you may be feeding rats as well."

They also advised that all food waste should be put into a food waste caddy and recyclable materials should be rinsed to help stop them being attacked by birds, animals or other vermin.

"Cardiff council does treat sewers in areas where there has been an increase in rodent sightings and we do have a paid for service which helps eradicate rats from residents' homes," they added.

A Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) spokesperson said food waste was collected weekly "in nearly all areas" of Wales.

"Problems tend to arise when bins are not used correctly—for example, when food waste is placed in black bags, which can be torn open by rats or seagulls," they added.