AN SNP councillor has batted off criticism of city vermin infestations by saying “rats have been running around Glasgow for hundreds of years.”

READ MORE: Glasgow councillor admits the city has a 'massive' rat problem

Frank Scally made the comments when Jim Kavanagh brandished a copy of the Evening Times highlighting the problem across the city at the Environment Committee on Tuesday.

Mr Kavanagh was demanding a halt for consultation in the Bin Replacement Programme (BRP), currently being rolled out by the SNP-run Glasgow City Council.

He contends the new bins and a change to fortnightly collections is causing overflowing bins and a crisis with vermin.

Mr Scally said: “By the way, Jim, I’m also a Glaswegian and have stayed here all my life. Rats have been running around here for hundreds of years.

READ MORE: Glasgow councillor admits the city has a 'massive' rat problem

“I don’t think they’re going to become extinct.

“Sadly, we have people putting the wrong produce in the wrong bins.

“And, by the way, that’s not council workers, it’s the local community, and it would be nice if some of the people could start to put the right things in the right bins.”

Last month, SNP councillor Elspeth Kerr told a licencing committee the whole of Glasgow is infested with rats.

READ MORE: Glasgow councillor admits the city has a 'massive' rat problem

There are fears Ms Kerr’s ward Drumchapel could become a serious problem with vermin.

Mr Kavanagh, a Labour councillor, told the Environment Committee he visited Drumchapel on the weekend.

He condemned the SNP administration by saying “quite simply, an SNP councillor saying the city is infested with rats – it’s here in black and white” while wafting a copy of the newspaper article.

READ MORE: Glasgow councillor admits the city has a 'massive' rat problem

Mr Kavanagh told the committee: “It’s all very well producing a lovely, glossy brochure, but the harsh reality is, the BRP is not working.

“Phase one in Drumchapel – and I went up at the weekend – saw collections changed to fortnightly.

“Bins have been contaminated, so makes for non-recycling, which leads to landfill, which leads to cost, which is within the council.”

READ MORE: Glasgow councillor admits the city has a 'massive' rat problem

Conservative councillor Robert Connelly said: “I am quite disappointed that a administration councillor don’t seem to take the issue of rat infestation seriously.

“I don’t believe it is good enough to say Glasgow will always have this problem.”

Glasgow City Council has been replacing tens of thousands of older steel bins across the city and has just finished phase one.

But now Land and Environmental Services is taking a six to eight weeks “hiatus” to analyse their findings.

We’re taking a hiatus for six to eight weeks to analyse what we found, such as infestations of rats in properties, and find data to make possible improvements.

“Rats, when you move them from one place, they go somewhere else,” said Tony Boyle, head of cleansing and waste management.