Rats which have grown fat eating rubbish during the bin strike in Birmingham are now as big as dogs, with the city’s top pest catcher claiming to have seen one just shy of two-feet long
Whopper rats as big as dogs are running riot in Birmingham, its top rodent catcher has revealed.
The porky pests have grown enormously tubby while gorging on garbage during the city’s ongoing bin strike. Will Timms, known as ‘rat man’, has been working around the clock trying to keep the beefcake critters at bay.
He said: “A rat can get really big on protein. I noticed it when I was working in town.
“People would chuck their kebabs on the floor, and the rats would eat them and grow considerably. I set traps and pick up corpses.
“I had one last week, and it was 22 inches long. It was ginormous.”
Almost 20,000 tonnes of trash are piling up on the streets of Britain’s second city after 400 bin workers walked out over pay and conditions.
Will, who runs WJ Pest Solutions and has only had one day off since the strike began, added: “The smell is vile. I was on a rat job this morning, and as soon as I got out of the van, I was heaving.
“You’ve got dirty nappies all over the floor, incontinence pads. You can smell rat urine in the air as well, it’s like strong ammonia.
“I was thinking, ‘How the hell can you live like this round here?’ It’s diabolical.”
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Birmingham City Council declared a major incident this week over the public health threat. The issue was also raised in Parliament, with the government insisting it was “monitoring the situation closely”.
But the brazen creatures are getting bolder as their population soars and it could take weeks to gain control even if industrial action is called off soon.
Locals are getting angry that some areas are being neglected while others appear to have their bins emptied.
Basmin Khan, from Small Heath Forum, said: “There have been rats going under the cars, going into the bins, going into the front gardens – it’s a health hazard.”
The union Unite claims planned changes would lead 50 workers to lose £8,000 a year, and about 20 to lose £2,000.
Council leader John Cotton said: “We cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham.”