GLASGOW is becoming overrun by rats with almost 4000 calls for help made to pest control officers by worried residents in the past year.

GLASGOW is becoming overrun by rats with almost 4000 calls for help made to pest control officers by worried residents in the past year.

The number of complaints - 3835 in the past 12 months - represents a 10% rise on the same period last year.

The previous year there were 3475 requests to pest control to investigate rats and in 2006 there were 3498.

Glasgow's West End is the worst-hit neighbourhood with 281 reports of the creatures in the Hillhead and Woodlands area in the last year.

In Ibrox and Kingston there have been 223 complaints and in Springburn 191.

At one point in May, officers were receiving an average of 14 complaints a day about the problem from across the city.

They investigate each report and then take action where appropriate including laying traps and poison.

Today experts said the problem was caused by rubbish left lying in the streets and the fast rate at which rats breed.

Resident Alan Lee, who lives in Woodside in the heart of the most rat-infested area, took the Evening Times on a tour of his neighbourhood.

Rotting food waste was left lying around flats at Braid Square and St George's Road.

Behind one close in St George's Road were cardboard boxes which Alan, 26, thinks the rats are using as nests.

He said: "Round about Braid Square and St George's Road the problem is really bad.

"You see them, usually crowds of them. They're really big. They've got long tails and a fat body. It's disgusting.

"It's not something you'd expect in this area. We've got a lot of elderly people and there's primary schools nearby. It's a serious health and safety issue.

"It's worst during the summer. If you're out at night you'll see them most nights."

Alan, who is secretary of Woodside Community Council, added: "People need to learn to put their rubbish in bins and not just throw it on the street."

Councillor George Roberts, whose Hillhead ward covers Woodside, said: "The council and GHA have been working to resolve this issue, but the rats are so prolific they've gained access to some people's homes and the structure of buildings.

"Several people have contacted me about the problem. There's a general problem with rats in the area, including at Garscube Road and St George's Road, because of people disposing of rubbish in the streets.

"People have got to start taking more responsibility for their area. If they don't dispose of rubbish in bins, you get this problem.

"Environmental health can do little about them in common areas."

Rat expert Kevin Higgins of the British Pest Control Association said: "The problem begins when there's food available to them.

"Conditions for breeding have been excellent this year and rats can breed like billy-o. They can live anywhere, and in cities their food comes from rubbish.

"Rats like fat which is available in much of the food waste people throw away.

"And every three weeks they can breed - once they've given birth they're able to conceive again.

"There are two ways to deal with them.

"First you have to remove the source of food, and secondly you've got to use traps or poison. That's the only way to stop them."

He added that once a colony of rats establishes itself, usually in sewers, it doesn't take long before they start moving into people's homes.

Mr Higgins said: "We get a lot of calls about rats coming up through pipes and emerging in homes. They're very agile."

And he said water authorities need to make sure sewer pipes are properly maintained to keep them rat-free.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said: "We don't have a major problem with rats in any particular part of Glasgow.

"The primary issue is the availability of food and despite the Clean Glasgow campaign having a major impact on the cleanliness of our city's streets, there is still a lot of work to be done to stop the public leaving rubbish where rats can gather."

Glasgow City Council's Environmental Services provides a free service for the investigation and treatment of rat infestations in all locations, except commercial premises.

Environmental health officers will investigate within five working days after a complaint.

The service covers all households, for both tenants and home owners.

It doesn't matter if the infestation is in a garden, back court or vacant site, Pest Control Section will carry out a treatment which can involve laying traps or poison.

Officers will also give advice on how to prevent rats from getting into homes, by taking action, such as sealing access holes rats may have created.

It can take up to 10 days for poison to be effective.

For more information log on to www.glasgow.gov.uk