A pest control company says its callouts have almost tripled because of a boom in the population of rats.
Owner of Target Pest, Norman Kerr, said the long dry spell over summer has helped the animals breed, and increase in size, with some of the rats caught weighing almost a kilo.
Mr Kerr says the problem is nationwide and that heavy rainfall had flushed more of them out into the open.
He said many of the rodents had been living in factories containing food with a high fat content, but they may move into households over winter.
