Hungry rats are infesting homes across the UK as the coronavirus lockdown forces them into a wider search for food.
Restaurant closures have forced the rodents to seek out new sources of food.
Pest control experts have warned rats are growing increasingly daring and have been known to gain entry by squeezing under doors or through drain pipes, reports Essex Live.
The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) has claimed around half of the professionals it surveyed during lockdown had reported an up tick in rat activity.
BPCA technical officer Natalie Bungay said: "Rats in particular may be becoming more visible in areas of population.
"With less footfall across cities and towns there is less associated food waste being left in bins and on the floor.
"As a result, rat populations are likely to move further afield to satisfy their need for a food source and this, in turn, is likely to cause more sightings.
"By nature, rats will also try to avoid humans directly and so, with less of us walking the streets, they may be getting a little bolder and possibly be seen in areas they normally wouldn’t.
"In terms of rats in domestic homes, so long as you manage your food waste properly and there are no considerable harbourage opportunities, you shouldn’t experience any unusual problems.
"The risk may be that if you find you are doing more gardening and creating more garden waste, the storage of this in piles around your garden can provide a perfect place for rats to live and breed."
Reports from other countries suggest the problem - brought on by coronavirus - is not just confined to Britain.
Urban rodentologist Bobby Corrigan belives that cities across the world are being affected after being forced to close restaurants.
And he said that cannibalism was a very real possibility - especially when options are running out.
He told NBC News: "Those rats that were living by that restaurant, some place nearby, and perhaps for decades having generations of rats that depended on that restaurant food, well, life is no longer working for them, and they only have a couple of choices.
"So these rats are fighting with one another, now the adults are killing the young in the nest and cannibalizing the pups."
