'They are everywhere' - outrage as car park of council flats infested with rats

A car park of a council-owned block of flats is infested with rats, residents and a councillor said.

Amy Stewart, who lives in Kite Place in Whitehawk, Brighton, said that unkempt and overgrown greenery has attracted hordes of rats to the car park.

Amy, 40, said: “We have a bad problem with rats, they are everywhere. One almost ran across my child’s feet.

“The other day, I turned around and my dog had a rat’s tail in its mouth.

“It has been a problem for months.”

Numerous dead rats have bene found in the car park with live ones almost running over people's feet (Image: Amy Stewart)

Amy reported that she had contacted the council numerous times and was told that there was a “budget for these things” and they were not at the top of the list.

Another resident, Grace Jackson, told The Argus that her five-year-old daughter has been left anxious and hysterical after seeing rats near their flat.

She said: “About a week ago, my daughter and I saw two running down the path.

“She’s refusing to walk that way for school because she’s scared, she’s petrified to go outside.”

Grace, 30, reported that the council visited the block of flats on Wednesday but felt that they were only cutting back overgrowth in an isolated area.

Residents have blamed unkept overgrowth for the infestation (Image: Amy Stewart)

Amy said the council should visit the block more often to maintain the overgrowth.

Grace has also referred the issue to the Labour councillor for Whitehawk and Marina, David McGregor.

Cllr McGregor said: “It is completely out of line and unacceptable for this to continue, we've had an extermination service at the block several times before to put down traps and they'll be there again today to do whatever they can to get this to stop.

“None of our residents deserve to live like this and I've acted on it immediately to get our housing department to deal with it.

“I'd ask anyone facing a similar issue to please get in touch."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We have been in contact with residents at Kite Place and our contractors have visited the area on a number of occasions to put measures in place to tackle the issue.

“We will be visiting again today to look at what else we can do, including cutting back any overgrown green spaces.”