A GLASGOW community is growing concerned about a 'rising rat population' as vermin have begun to infest their homes.

Residents of Springboig in the city’s East End have noticed a surge of rodents in their neighbourhood and are concerned that it is an infestation.

David Murray found that vermin had invaded his home when he returned from a recent holiday.

He told the Glasgow Times: “We found a bag of flour in our kitchen had been ripped apart and then started seeing rats running around.

“There were three roaming around the lawn, and I was going outside and scaring them away, but they weren’t moving.”

Glasgow Times: Photo submitted by a Springboig resident, who did not wish to be named.Photo submitted by a Springboig resident, who did not wish to be named.

Mr Murray called pest control and has since shared his situation with neighbours and on social media, receiving multiple responses from others who reported seeing rodents in their gardens and homes.

He said: “Our neighbour had rats in the house, there were signs of them in the kitchen cupboard.

“Now we have all these traps set up so we’re hoping the immediate problem will go away.”

He added: “If you see them running around during the day the place must be properly infested.”

The thought of a growing rat population concerns Mr Murray, who lives with his wife and three young children.

He said: “It’s a serious problem. They carry diseases and our neighbours said pest control thought they’d been in the cupboards for quite a while which is quite worrying.

“They’re disgusting anyway, but it’s another thing to be dangerous to your health.”

Glasgow Times:

Mr Murray feels the problem could be attributed to food waste and litter, and added: “It’s not that long since the council changed the bin collection to being less frequent.”

Locals have also suggested on social media that the construction of properties by CCG Homes in the old site of St John’s School on Edinburgh Road may be ‘disturbing’ the land and resulting in rodents uprooting.

The Glasgow Times has contacted CCG Homes for comment. 

Meanwhile, Springboig and Barlanark Community Council treasurer Tracy Steell agrees with Mr Murray that changes to refuse collections and food waste may be causing the problem.

She told the Glasgow Times: “I know people think they’re doing good by feeding foxes, but half the food they throw out just sits there.”

Glasgow Times:

Ms Steell explained that she not only feels the issue is being discussed more among the community, but it is beginning to cause fear in residents.

She said: “A lot of people are saying, ‘I had one in my garden’, ‘I saw a dead one in the street’.

“My neighbour pulled all her bushes out because she’s feared that they’ll jump out the bushes.

"A few neighbours also think their dogs have been sick after eating food lying about.

“People are scared.”

Glasgow Times:

After the issue was raised at a recent meeting, the community council sent a letter asking residents to refrain from discarding food, pick up dog waste and not leave garden waste in public areas.

Ms Steell said: “We go for help, and we get it, but we have to do just as much as what the council is trying to offer us.

“We have to work together.”  

A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “We echo the plea by the community council 100% and urge anyone disposing of food incorrectly to start doing so immediately.

“Environmental health have been out to the area repeatedly but the bottom line is, that if people are discarding food waste in the street or on green areas as the letter suggests, it will attract rats.

“And the more food they have, the more they’ll breed.”