Rats thrive as flat tenants chuck food from windows
A colony of rats is plaguing a block of flats, feasting on litter left by some residents.
But Golding Homes, which owns the block, has said it will not exterminate the animals, which regularly sit in daylight a few feet from ground-floor flats, unless one of them sets a paw inside.
The infestation at the back of Sunningdale Court, off Square Hill Road, Maidstone, away from CCTV cameras, has prompted ground-floor resident Michael Amos to complain dozens of times.
But he was told no action could be taken to curb the rats’ activi- ties unless they entered the property.
Mr Amos, who with girlfriend Katie Buckley, 24, has a sixmonth-old son, Tommy, said he had seen the rats within the first few days of moving in this March.
The pair have witnessed the colony appear each day from nearby bushes to feast on items which have been thrown from windows of properties above in the 13-storey block.
Mr Amos, 23, said he had also witnessed two rats kill a crow and drag it into the bushes.
He said: “They are climbing up the walls. Something’s got to be done.
“They told me they couldn’t put bait boxes out unless they came inside.
“It’s going to be winter soon and they’re going to be looking for a warm place to go.”
Golding Homes has written to tenants asking them to refrain from throwing rubbish onto the grass below.
Mr Amos added: “The rats are coming here because there is a source of food.
“I have seen people chuck a loaf of bread out and I have seen the rats drag it back into the woods.
“The worst time is the evenings – people throw their leftovers from dinner out of the window.” A spokesman for Golding Homes said a pest control specialist had been appointed, adding: “We have also stepped up our cleaning in those areas to try and get on top of the problem.
“We are trying to engage with residents to try and change the behaviour.”