Balerno residents facing nightmare as homes and gardens 'flooded' with rats
One Balerno resident reported finding six rats in his attic
Residents living in a rat-infested street say they are facing a nightmare after finding their homes and gardens “flooded” with vermin.
Laurence Chalmers, who lives on Threipmuir Gardens in Balerno, first started seeing the rats in his garden two weeks ago and has since bought traps and poison to deal with the rodents.
Despite reaching out to the City of Edinburgh Council for help, Mr Chalmers was told the council would not be able to employ Pest Control in his neighbourhood as they have no statutory duty of care to private owners and tenants.
Instead, he and his neighbours were advised by the council to contact an independent private contractor within Edinburgh if they wanted professional intervention. They noted the cost would range from around £180 to £250.
Now, as of Friday, Mr Chalmers says he has killed six rats in his own garden while dozens more rodents have been seen in his neighbours’ homes as well as in the gardens of residents on the other side of the village.
He told the Evening News: “One of my neighbours next door to me has killed three. Another neighbour across the road has killed six in his attic.
“Balerno’s getting flooded with them at the minute. There’s another house opposite where I stay and he had to get people over the other day out to his house and he had to pay £300.”
‘It’s been a nightmare’
In one picture, shown to the Evening News, more than 11 rats were pictured in a garden on Cockburn Crescent, next to a bird feeder.
Mr Chalmers believes the influx of rats is due to food dropping down to the floor after the birds have been fed by locals. He is now urging the people of the village to “stop feeding the birds”.
He said: “All the talk around Balerno at the minute is rats. It’s been a nightmare up here. I’ve killed six rats up till now.
“I noticed rats round about my back garden about two weeks ago. So I went online and bought traps and poison.
“I noticed a dead rat just lying in my back garden yesterday so I assume the poison must be working.
“I was out in the garden the other day just having a beer and a rat ran right across my patio into another garden.”
Mr Chalmers added that, while sitting in the garden, he and his wife have recorded a video of the rats coming to eat the poison.
Stephen Jenkinson, Edinburgh council’s transport and environment convener, said: “We’re aware of these concerns and our pest control teams are actively monitoring the area and carrying out baiting on Council-owned land.
“We’ve also provided advice and support to local residents on steps they can take to reduce the likelihood of infestations. We would strongly encourage people to temporarily stop putting out bird feed, as this can attract and sustain rat populations.