GLASGOW needs to declare a rat emergency amid fears warm weather could cause the number of rat sightings across the city to spike, a trade union convener has warned.
GMB convenor for cleansing, Chris Mitchell, said that while people across the city enjoy the warmer weather, it can also lead to more problems with vermin.
He said that with more people out and about, it means more food is available in parks, back courts, and gardens, which in turn causes the rats to breed more.
Chris has reissued his plea to Glasgow City Council to declare a health and safety emergency as the number of rat sightings from GMB members and the public continues on a daily basis.
The council is already extending its pest control team as part of a recently agreed investment in frontline services, which includes recruiting 200 street cleansing and parks staff to help keep Glasgow in good condition.
Chris said: “I have been very vocal in the past when it comes to rat sightings within cleansing.
“No doubt the warm weather will exacerbate that as you have more people sitting in parks, more people sitting in their front gardens, back courts, ordering takeaways, sitting enjoying the sunshine and enjoying the food.
“Of course, during the summer, rats will breed more frequently. It is a perfect storm, sunshine, food and breeding already in a chaotic world.
“It is totally out of control. The only way to combat this is to change people’s behaviours but, of course, increase the frequency of refuse collection and by doing that employing more refuse collectors into the city and pest control.
“Until we deal with that, we are going to be dealing with this for years to come. At some point, there is going to be a severe breach of health and safety and somebody is going to be seriously hurt.”
Glasgow City Council says that there were 13,000 calls to its pest control service last year out of a city with 310,000 households.
A spokesperson said: “The best way to deter rats is to ensure all food waste is properly disposed of in a bin.
“Rats are unfortunately a feature of urban life but they do prefer to keep out of sight of people and other predators.
“Rats are also always in search of a source of food and somewhere to nest close-by.
“It is therefore vital for anyone out and on-the-go to use one of Glasgow’s 5500 public litter bins for any food waste and litter.
“Or, if at home, to use a food waste bin that will provide suitable containment and be uplifted routinely.
“We provide a pest control service for domestic properties and we follow British Pest Control Association guidance that indicates property owners should undertake hygiene and pest proofing measures to ensure the effectiveness of any pest control treatment.
“We are extending our pest control team as part of recently agreed investment in frontline services, which includes recruiting 200 street cleansing and parks staff to help keep Glasgow in good condition.
“We will also shortly begin rolling out on-street bin hubs, which will see more frequent bin collections for flatted properties across Glasgow.”
