Rise in rats blamed on bin changes

10:11am Thursday 14th December 2006

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RAT infestations have increased in York since weekly bin collections were scrapped, new figures have revealed.

From March to August this year, City of York Council dealt with 326 requests for help from residents or businesses blighted by the vermin - up by a fifth on last year.

Opponents to the change today said the figures vindicated their warning that scrapping the weekly pick-ups would increase rodent problems during the summer months.

But Andrew Waller, the council's executive member for neighbourhood services, said that the change was not the cause.

He said the problem was worst in those areas that did not yet have wheelie bins and were still using black bags.

The figures, obtained by The Press using the Freedom of Information Act, show that in total, in the first eight months in which fortnightly collections were in use, the council dealt with 442 requests - up 5.5 per cent on the previous year, when there were 419 complaints.

Ruth Potter, Labour Group spokesperson on environmental issues, said: "The rise should have been anticipated, because if you have refuse lying around, you have a free food supply for a longer period of time."

She said the price of pest control had also increased under the current council, making it more expensive for people to get rid of vermin.

But Coun Waller said: "Many of the problem areas that have been brought to my attention are areas with weekly collections, because they are still on black sacks.

"By containing waste in wheelie bins, it's better.

"It's virtually impossible for rats to scale a smooth surface like a wheelie bin and get inside a sealed bin."

A City of York Council spokesperson said: "Although the number of cases does fluctuate from month to month, overall there is no significant difference between the first nine months of 2006 and the figures for the same period in 2005. The figure for the first nine months of 2005 was 437 and the figure for the first nine months of 2006 was 446, which is an increase of nine cases, or two per cent."

"During the summer months, there was actually a reduction compared with the figures for the previous year. For example, in July 2005 there were 35 cases and in July 2006 there were 30.

"It is worth reminding people not to drop food waste and litter, particularly from fast food, because this can lead to increases in the rat population."

City of York Council introduced fortnightly collections in October 2005, to save money in landfill tax and Government fines.

The Liberal Democrats had pledged to test the scheme in a pilot zone first, but sparked widespread fury when they introduced it across most of the city.

More than 7,500 readers of The Press signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of weekly collections, but after a three-month hiatus last winter, the fortnightly collections resumed in March.

Doretta Cocks, of the national Campaign For Weekly Waste Collections, said: "It is the smell of food that attracts rats.

"It does not matter if it's in a bin or not. They have a far better sense of smell than we have and they just smell out the food."

She said the figures vindicated those who had opposed York council's change.