WORKING from home may be causing a rat population boom due to bin collectors struggling with the surge in refuse bags.
With fewer people in offices, household waste has increased — and so has the number of parked cars clogging streets and getting in the way of bin lorries on their regular rounds.
Now rats, many carrying diseases which affect humans, are finding easy pickings among the dumped food waste sacks littering suburban streets.
Experts say there could be 300 million of the rodents rampaging around Britain.
In Leeds, WFH has been blamed by the city council for growing complaints about missed collections.
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The council said: “In the past, when people left their homes and went into the office, it was easier to navigate through narrow, difficult streets.”
And with winter on the way, rodents are now seeking cosy places to live inside our homes.
Rentokil Pest Control said: “As soon as the temperature drops, rats look for somewhere warm.
"Brown rats are agile climbers and can be found in loft spaces.”
Huge “super rats” are also on the rise, which are immune to available poisons.