A PLAGUE of rats has been terrorising residents in Southgate, invading gardens and houses, after a litter-strewn lane became a breeding ground for the vermin.
The residents of Pickard Close have been battling to have the lane behind Chase Road cleaned up on a regular basis after unearthing documents which they felt proved the council owned the land.
They thought they had made a breakthrough when Enfield Council swept the lane earlier this year, getting rid of mounds of litter.
But due to the build-up of rubbish, including discarded fast food packets, and fly-tipping, the site has become the perfect breeding ground for rats.
According to Hasan Abdel Rahim, who is leading the clean-up campaign, when the desperate residents hired a private pest controller they were shocked to discover that inadvertently the council had made the problem worse.
Without a source of food, rats were looking elsewhere and seeking it out in residents’ homes.
He told the Advertiser: “I found a dead rat in my garden four months ago. My neighbours heard animals in their house. They have two children and they found a rat in their kitchen. It’s appalling.”
The residents of Pickard Close are now calling on the council to clean the land regularly to prevent the infestation spreading further.
The council’s cabinet member for the environment Chris Bond told the Advertiser: “Following complaints from residents we have started to investigate who has responsibility for the maintenance and cleaning of this plot of land.
“In the meantime we instructed cleaning crews to visit the site on Tuesday and clear it of litter and other rubbish.”
Enfield Today