Rat terror within Warrenpoint Housing Terrace

RESIDENTS ofa Warrenpoint housing terrace have become terrified at the ongoing presence of rats in the area.

Apparently the rodents, which according to eyewitness testimony are of quite a considerable size , are being attracted to the area by refuse that has been repeatedly fly-tipped on a plot of land located just behind the housing terrace which is owned by the Housing Executive.

It is understood that this plot of land was once a a communal alleyway that runs down the back of the the houses.

One resident of the housing terrace claims she has seen at least four of the not so cuddly critters scuttling through her garden in the past number of weeks.

Terrified Squeaking

“This is basically an issue of an infestation of rats and this is something that I have tried to address. “The source where the rats are coming from is rubbish that is being dumped on land owned at the back of my property. The distance between my house and the patch of land behind my garden where the rubbish is being deposited is the length of the garden, say 15 feet.

“I have videos of the rats and I would say that I have seen at least four big rats in the last few weeks scuttling around the garden. Last week I asked my daughter to run the torch down round the garden to see if there was anything different from when I had left that morning.

“My cat was standing hovering over an area from which we could hear a terrified squeaking sound and the cat would not move. I got a stick and I started prodding at the area from which the squeaking sound was emanating. I thought if it was only a little mouse and that it would run away.

“As I was prodding under my broken pavement it became apparent that this wasn't a mouse at all, it was an adolescent rat. I knew this because of its size and girth and also because of the length and thickness of the tail.

“This problem has been ongoing for at least six months and I first became aware of the dumping on this plot of land three years ago.

“This is something that I have tried to address but so far I have met with closed doors. I have paid privately to have the situation assessed and the company I paid has produced a huge report identifying the source. They came out and installed boxes and monitored the situation for about a month. I had to privately pay £140 to get anything done. There assessment was that yes we had a rat problem and that they could identify one of the two sources of the rats.

Taking matters into own hands

The situation concerning the rats in the area has become so dire that the resident in question is now seriously entertaining the possibility of purchasing the plot of land in question in order to try and put a permanent end to the ongoing incidents of flytipping and thus remove the rubbish that is attracting the rodents.

“Historically I have been trying to negotiate the purchase of this piece of land where I will take responsibility for it and maintaining it. This is work in progress.

“It is not just me who has had to deal with this problem. A local political representative approached me and asked me if we were having a problem with rats and I told them that "yes we are." We asked each other what it is we intend to do about it. Although we haven't had another conversation only to acknowledge the fact that there is a problem with rats running from across the housing terrace.

When contacted regarding the presence of the rats and the ongoing incidents of Fly tipping a Housing Executive Spokespearson stated that “This area will be cleared of any fly-tipping as soon as possible.

“The land has now been added to our maintenance maps and will be subject to regular weed control and removal of litter.

“It will also be inspected periodically by our neighbourhood officers and any necessary action relating to its maintenance will be taken