Vermin fear over poison guidelines

Fears over a boom in the local rat population have been voiced by North West Euro MP Paul Nuttall.

An EU report contains proposals to ban anticoagulants in rat poisons - yet 95 per cent of pest-control products contain them.

"This obviously means that many methods of rat control will be outlawed and I am very concerned about the effect this may have," said the UKIP MEP.

"Britain's rat population is already on the increase following local councils limiting pest-control services to save money.

“It is estimated the population will triple to 200 million, with rats outnumbering people three to one.

"The scrapping of weekly bin collections, teamed with warm weather, is likely to see the number of rodents, who are capable of producing 200 offspring annually, rise even more, bringing with it increased risk of contamination and disease, such as salmonella.

"Without adequate controls to tackle the growth in the rat population, both householders and businesses, including the hospitality industry, could be plagued by rats" added Mr Nuttall.

"UKIP is very worried about this report by the European Commission’s Environmental Committee and we have urged an impact assessment and reconsideration of proposals."