A MUM was horrified at the weekend to see a multitude of rats when she took her little boy on a visit to Wardown Park.
Amanda Smylie, 41, took her six-year-old son to the park on Sunday so that he could ride his bike, but was left aghast at the number of rodents they sighted during their visit.
Mrs Smylie said: “We couldn’t believe it. We go down there quite often but I haven’t seen this before.
“We walked down from the museum, and there was a strong smell of what smelled like sewage. When we got down to the bridgethere were four rats on it. We must have seen a dozen in the time we were there.
“I know they say there are rats everywhere but it was just awful to see them all. Normally my little boy likes to stand on the bridge and feed the ducks.
“It does put you off – rats have all sorts of diseases. There was a little girl who was must have been two or three, and she was running towards them.”
Following Mrs Smylie’s call, Luton News photographer Jane Russell visited the park, and snapped the rats running around on the banks of the lake.
The rodents appear to have made their home in the trunks of willow trees around the water, and also in holes in the bank.
A spokesman for Luton Borough Council said the problem was not a new one for Wardown Park.
She said: “We have been regularly baiting the park for years. But along with parks everywhere, the rat population usually peaks during the summer months when vermin are attracted by dropped food wrappers and bread fed to the ducks and geese by visitors.
“An easy food supply means the rats are not hungry so they don’t take the bait.
“Now that we are in autumn, we expect a reduction in the number of visitors feeding wildfowl and a reduced rat population within the next few weeks.”
> What do you think? Would large numbers of rats put you off visiting Wardown Park?
Have your say, our contact details are on page 2