'Cat-sized rat' blamed on council's pest control cuts

Cuts to council pest control services are being blamed for a town's rodent problem, which includes the discovery of a supersize rat said to be 22in (56cm) from nose to tail found in a house in Normanby, Teesside.

- Mark Brown

"I had to do a double take when I saw a picture of it," said Stephen Martin, a Conservative councillor on Redcar and Cleveland council. "You can tell by the size of the bag that it's not a normal size. It's the size of a cat."

Martin, whose Eston ward is close to where the rat was removed by a pest controller, said it was not a one-off. "Rats are being spotted more and more around our area. It has been getting worse for a few years now."