Victorian drainage system 'to blame for city rat infestation'

A quarter of all rat complaints in Hull over the last year occurred in the Riverside area, which includes the Drypool, Myton, Newington and St Andrew's wards.

Hull Council said the drains, location and character of the area had all contributed to the infestation, with rats escaping from the sewers to forage for food.

Environmental regulation manager John Rogers said: "Hull City Council deal with all reports of rats within the city. Drainage defects are a major contributor to rat problems, mostly on private drainage systems.

"We find more rats in the Riverside area compared to other parts of Hull because it has more buildings in a condensed area, is nearer the river and has a drainage system that dates back to Victorian times."

There were 148 complaints about rats in the Riverside area between August 2009 and July this year, accounting for 25 per cent of the 592 total for the city.

Most of these were in Myton ward, which recorded 57 complaints.

However, the Orchard Park and Greenwood ward, in the Northern Area, had more rat complaints than any other ward in Hull, with 73 over the same period. Most of the rats have emerged from the sewers, and where these are owned by Yorkshire Water it is the company's responsibility to control the rat population in the network.

A report to the council's Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Commission urges members to investigate how much Yorkshire Water is spending on sewer-baiting after claiming funding has fallen over the last 10 years.

The report, a referral from the Riverside area committee, urges the commission to "investigate the resources committed by Yorkshire Water over the last 10 years dealing with rats in sewers, which are believed to be a major source of infestation in the city".

The report said the company has increased its sewer baiting budget by 10,000 over the last 10 years, but said this represented a cut in real terms.

The annual budget is now 305,000, and over the last year Hull accounted for 42,000, or 14 per cent, of the spending.

Yorkshire Water said it was taking positive steps to control rats in Hull and elsewhere, and that funding had not decreased in recent years. A spokeswoman said: "Yorkshire Water takes a proactive approach to rodent control and regularly carries out sewer-baiting as a general practice right across the region.

"Funding for this work has remained stable since 2007 and in fact the city of Hull, which historically has a larger rodent population than other cities in the region, receives a larger percentage of our funding than other areas to help control levels.

"As general practice, we proactively visit the twenty-three local authorities in our region at least once a year to discuss any issue with regards to rodents.

"We also carry out both planned and call-out work as requested by local authorities and keep in regular contact by email and telephone.

"We hold a quarterly forum meeting to discuss rodent issues, new baiting techniques and strategies with champions from the local authorities."

She added: "Yorkshire Water has been commended by the National Pest Technicians' Association and local authorities in the region

for our approach to rodent control."

The council's pest control team investigates all complaints of rat infestations within the city boundary, and if the cause is not obvious it carries out controlled baiting in the area.

The service is free to residents but chargeable to businesses.

A representative of Yorkshire Water has been invited to discuss the report when the commission meets on December 7.