Rat infestation in Culloden homes prompts calls for Highland Council to take action

Rats rampaging through homes and gardens are plaguing the lives of residents in an Inverness street.

Householders in Wallace Place, Culloden, say rodents have been eating their way into cupboards as well as through wires and stored boxes of clothing.

On one occasion, one woman said she opened her kitchen cupboard to discover a live rat inside.

Residents believe the infestation is linked to work on a nearby flood alleviation scheme at Culloden Park.

They claim the work disturbed the rats’ previous habitat, and they are now calling on Highland Council to take action.

Two years ago, complaints abut rats in the Culloden Avenue area led to investigations by the council’s environmental health officers who at the time did not think there was a significant problem though they said that they would continue to monitor the area.

Margaret Cameron (75), who lives with her 78-year-old husband in Wallace Place, said there has been a “plague” of rats in recent weeks and estimated they are now catching four or five of the creatures every day.

“It is horrendous,” she said.

“They are eating through cupboards.

“We tried blocking off the holes, but they are just getting through, and they are also getting through plastic containers.

“We need someone to fumigate the whole block. We are desperate to get something done.”

She said that when she contacted Highland Council, she had been told that as hers was not a council-owned property she would have to pay to get someone to tackle the problem herself.

She said that would amount to about a £1000 bill for the four-home block where she lives.

“It is an environmental hazard but they will not do anything about it,” she said.

“It was not our problem in the first place.

“The rats moved habitat when they did the flood prevention scheme.”

Neighbour Mabel Grant (70) said at least a dozen rats had been caught in traps in the last two weeks.

On one occasion, she said she was greeted by the sight of a live rat in her kitchen cupboard while at other times she hears rats running around the loft and has discovered droppings in a box used to store dolls’ clothes.

“It is horrible,” she said.

“I lie in bed and I can hear them scratching in the loft.”

Mrs Grant also believed the issue could be traced back to the relocation of a burn linked to the flood prevention scheme.

“We never had rats until they did that,” she said.

Culloden and Ardersier councillor Trish Robertson asked council officers to investigate after being made aware of the situation.

She said although it was generally the responsibility of private householders to deal with such a problem, if there were rats in their homes there could be a health hazard.

She had also asked whether anything could be done to tidy up overgrown gardens in a couple of empty properties nearby.

“The complaint is being investigated,” she said.

A Highland council spokeswoman confirmed environmental health service officers visited private properties in Culloden on Tuesday and spoke to two residents.

“At this time advice on pest control, and steps that could be taken were provided to the residents,” she said.

“However, as the properties are privately owned, it is the homeowners’ responsibility to arrange for any necessary treatment of their own property and not the council.

“The Environmental Health Service intends writing to the affected residents with further advice and has recommended that they appoint a suitably competent pest control contractor to undertake a full survey of their properties on their behalf and to undertake any necessary treatment.

“Construction works for the Smithton and Culloden Flood Protection Scheme were completed in autumn 2020.

“There is no evidence that points a direct or indirect linkage between the construction of the flood scheme and a rat problem.

“The council is not aware of any issues regarding rats being disturbed during the construction works either.”