Rat hell residents in Glasgow scared of throwing out rubbish in fear of having hands 'munched'

Locals say that the disease-bearing rodents are causing concern for families as the animals can be seen “scurrying around the kids’ play park” on Glenavon Road which is near bins.

Steven McKinnely, who has lived in the area for nine months, described the problem as “rife” as he has even witnessed his own dog chase and catch the rodents on multiple occasions. 

Stephen and his dog

He said: “My dog chases them all the time, they’re everywhere down here. 

“He’s caught two or three before. They seem to be mostly in the outside bins, but folk toss their food and rubbish out their windows which means you can see them running about the place.

“You hear them scurrying about at night and you can see them. If I have stuff to take to the outside skip, I don’t put my hand over the bin in case my hand gets munched.

“There are weans in the playpark and you can often see them running around the kids’ area, it’s rife up here.”

Alistair Duffy - who has lived in the area for a decade - told how the rat infestation issue has only worsened in the last year. 

He said: “We see the rats running around outside all the time when there are children sitting on the swings. They’re absolutely massive, too.

“The bins outside are overflowing so some residents just chuck their bins next to the skips and that’s how the rats get at the rubbish.

“The problem didn’t get that bad until this year. We’ve got a bin cute that just drops the rubbish into the bins in the basement so I don’t know if they’re making their way inside the building.”

And residents fear that diseases could be spread among children as they say rodents are nesting close to a kids’ play park.

Carol Hamilton said: “The rats are in the bins so it can be quite scary chucking your rubbish in in case one of them jumps up on you. It’s really bad. There was about five in a bin one night and there were loads running about. They’re everywhere at night time. 

“There are shrubs behind the kids’ swings and that’s where they stay.

“I have complained to the council and complained to the housing and they just said that the situation was getting dealt with but I haven’t seen the situation improve.

“It’s not healthy, we’ve got Covid, we don’t need rats and worry over any other diseases. There are a lot of families living here. It would be nice to see the housing association and council take some action.”

Image sent to the Glasgow Times

Meanwhile, the Glasgow Times was sent shocking images of around 10 to 11 dead rats drowned at the bottom of a bin on the same street. 

The GMB - a union that represents cleansing staff – has raised concerns for the workforce who are having to deal with the “shocking” rat conditions. 

The union claimed that there is a rising rodent population in Glasgow, however, the Glasgow Times is not aware of any evidence to back this allegation.

Chris Mitchell, Convenor for Refuse and Cleansing, said: “The rat population is increasing and the videos that clearly show the size and amount of them in one bin is shocking. 

“The workforce and the public should not have to see this. Cuts in cleansing services is only making matters worse. This is becoming a health and safety problem with diseases spreading through communities.

“The council must stop making cuts so we can combat this problem before it is too late.”

Glasgow City Council said that while it is concerned over a possible rat infestation at the address, there have been no reports of rat sightings in the area.

A spokesman said: "We have not received any reports of an infestation at this address and our crews have not advised supervisors of any encounter with an infestation in the course of their duties.

“In keeping with our arrangements for high-rise residences in the city we have been removing general waste from this address every four days as scheduled.

“We are obviously concerned about a possible infestation at this address. We will liaise with the housing association and offer any pest control support as appropriate.”

A spokeswoman for Maryhill Housing Association added: “We believe that there is a city-wide issue with cleansing and vermin in Glasgow at present due to a significant increase in fly-tipping as well as bin collection changes and a lack of bins.

“Maryhill Housing continue to work hard and use our resources as effectively as possible to make a positive difference to the communities we serve.

“Some of the measures being taken by our staff to improve cleansing in and around the Glenavon Road area include a significant ongoing vermin extermination programme, extensive bin and bin lid replacements/refurbishments, CCTV monitoring and the checking/rotating of all bins twice daily by on-site staff, clearing empty spaces at the bottom of all multi-storey properties and a fortnightly bulk uplift service to replace the service previously provided by Glasgow City Council.

“We also encourage customers to utilise the available bin chutes to dispose of rubbish safely and easily. In order to ensure the rubbish flows directly into the bin chambers, the bin lids must be taken off.

“We would urge all of our customers to take responsibility for their household and bulk waste and dispose of this correctly at all times. We would also continue to encourage customers to report any issues they have regarding cleansing to us so that we can take action to address these as soon as possible.”