'Plague of rats' terrorising neighbourhood

FAMILIES SAY RODENTS ARE RUNNING WILD

- NICK JACKSON

RESIDENTS are living in fear of a 'plague of rats' near a recently-built apartment block in Salford.

The infestation has prompted a newly-elected Salford city councillor to raise a petition calling for the waiving of the £45 fee the authority charges households for pest control officers to deal with the issue.

Father-of-two Zubair Bassa, 34, shot video of rats running around freely in front of his Goodiers Drive, Ordsall, home. And, when the Local Democracy Service Reporting (LDRS) visited him this week, rats could be spotted around among shrubbery opposite his house and in front of a newly-build complex of 77 apartments.

Zubair, who moved in with his wife Maryani, 33, five years ago, and who now have children aged two and four, says his family are terrified to go outside in front of the house because of the rats. "We can hear squeaking sometimes," he said.