HELP! WE’RE BEING OVERRUN BY RATS

RESIDENTS in Henley are worried to use their gardens due to an “out of control” rat problem.

Properties in the area of Periam Close are said to be the most affected.

It is believed that the rats are breeding at the former Chilterns End care home, off Greys Road, which has been derelict for nine years.

Jennie Miles-Thomas has made a barricade using chicken wire along the perimeter of her garden to deter the rats from coming in.

She said she first noticed the problem in 2020 and no longer feels comfortable to sit in and enjoy her garden.

Ms Miles-Thomas told the Henley Standard: “I’m scared of keeping the back door open because you think, ‘what’s to stop them coming in?’

“It’s that horrible thing when you can hear a noise and you go to look and they are just sitting there. They come right up on to the terrace.

“I almost don’t want to look out at my garden in case I see a rat sitting there. It has spoilt the whole pleasure of my garden.

“They’re not big gardens but it’s still your garden and I just don’t enjoy it anymore. Just a few months ago, I was looking out my back door and I thought there was a bird on my terrace and it was a big fat rat and he’d dug a hole from next door and was coming in. I go through the process of trying to kill it but they have babies and it starts all over again.

“I’ve barricaded as much as I can. It’s really sad because you have to learn to live with them.”

Ms Miles-Thomas said that despite her attempts to cull them, they keep returning and she sees them come into the garden in broad daylight.

“I feel like nobody really cares anymore. You are left to deal with the problem yourself but it doesn’t go away. It has been a beautiful summer but I haven’t wanted to go out there.

“As neighbours, we’ve tried to stop feeding the birds which is sad because we thought that encouraged them.

“I have a tennis ball and I throw it at the rats or at night I try and make a big noise. I just don’t understand how it has become so huge.”

One resident, who asked not to be named, has called out pest control specialists 12 times since April but says the problem has become unmanageable.

“It’s absolutely disgusting,” they said. “We’re constantly paying a pest controller but it’s like putting a sticking plaster on a swimming pool.

“I don’t know what the solution is. You can’t sit in your garden in the summer when there are rats running around.

“I see them in broad daylight and it’s absolutely horrible. When I’ve been sat in the garden, I’ve seen three rats running up the fence and going over the top or coming back. They are using it like a run.

“I have seen three or four at a time coming through my garden. I’ve out three bait boxes with poison out but it’s just not enough.

“Pest control was here two weeks ago and the man picked up one of the boxes to check it and a rat jumped out.

“We thought we were clear of rats three weeks ago but, sure enough, on Saturday, they were back again.”

They said that the issue is making them feel “sick and depressed” and that they are considering moving house to escape the rats.

Together with another neighbour, they have reported the issue to the environmental health team at South Oxfordshire District Council.

Another resident is fearful that the rat population in the area has increased over several years.

They said: “Rats are incontinent and who’s to say what they are bringing into our gardens. In the summertime my grandchildren want to play in the garden in bare feet. I know of two of my neighbours who won’t let their dogs into their garden.

“We have found that once some of the rats are killed, all of a sudden it’s like an empty house that’s derelict and then, like squatters, more rats move in.

“My feeling is that because Chilterns End has been derelict for some time, over the years, the population has spread out.”

The woman added that the pest controller they had hired had told them that the issue wouldn’t be resolved without them tackling the source.

A groundsman who lives in the area, who did not wish to be named, said he first noticed the problem four years ago.

The 56-year-old said he has gone through about 15 bags of poison cubes to control the rodents amounting to about £300.

They said: “I saw two rats last week. I see them in my garden and it’s just horrible. I did put poison down but now I’ve got a puppy, I’ve stopped putting it out.

“I have gone through quite a lot of bait. I know the rats are there because they’ve eaten it. I also keep the toilet seat down because they can come up.

“I’ve got a pet-friendly rat catcher but I’ve not been doing it or six or seven months now in case something goes wrong but I am going to start doing it again.”

David and Linda Eymor, of Chalcraft Close, were prompted to put down two rat traps in their garden after spotting a rat there two weeks ago.

Mr Eymor said: “We’re just being cautious. The rat we saw came out by the fence and it walked along the pathway sniffing around and it disappeared back under the fence and we put the traps out.”

Henley MP Freddie van Mierlo said he is “horrified” that residents are having to put up with the rodents and is closely monitoring the situation.

He said: “I’m pleased to have been able to assist residents in getting action from the district and county councils, firstly in seeking a visit by environmental health and secondly in establishing ownership of the site.

“As the owner of the Chilterns End site, its Oxfordshire County Council’s responsibility to resolve this and I’m pleased to have helped secure a site visit by pest controllers. I will be monitoring the situation to ensure this happens and that effective action is taken swiftly.”

A spokesman for the district council said it had received two complaints about rodent activity in the area and had written to nearby residents to “make them aware” of the problem.

Advice was also given on steps for them to deal with an infestation.

He said: “The council’s role in instances such as this is to serve notices on the owners or occupiers or properties or land that are infested, requiring them to get rid of the infestation in a specified timescale.

“We do not provide pest control services and have no legal duty to do so or to treat infestations of pests.”

A spokesman for the county council said it had agreed to the sale of Chilterns End, subject to agreeing planning permission.