Britons have been warned this winter will be "horrendous" for giant rodent infestations by a leading rat-catcher.
According to experts, the sweltering summer, growing takeaway culture, and infrastructure in disrepair are creating perfect conditions for enormous rats.
Kieran Sampler, founder of the Yorkshire Rat Pack, a collective of pest controllers who share work, hunts rats in a traditional way with his two terriers.
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The 31-year-old from Wakefield, who also runs VermiCure Pest Control, told The Telegraph his group now regularly catches rats measuring over 20 inches.
He said: "It is going to be a bad winter for rats, and people don't realise - it's going to be horrendous.
"There is always going to be a bad winter after a good summer."
He added: "Over the years, it has been getting worse. The rats are getting a lot bigger."
Kieran Sampler hunts rats in a traditional way with his two terriers
|YORKSHIRE RAT PACK
According to the ex-Lance Bombardier, "chihuahua-like" 19-inch rats are now standard, with maximum lengths getting up to 22 inches in a situation which he says "is getting beyond a joke".
He said: "Give it a couple of years and they will be 25 inches."
Mr Sampler added: "There is a lot more waste now than 20 years ago. There are more takeaways, more half-eaten food.
"There are a lot more high rise flats now with communal bin areas and this brings a lot more rats."
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Mr Sampler explained the increasing amount of waste attracts rats
|GETTY
According to Mr Sampler, the worst infestations are found on farms and in warehouses, as well as houses built in the late 20th Century.
He said: "These old houses with cast iron pipes - they are crumbling and rats are getting in."
Last month a giant rat shocked social media users after a photo of it was posted online.
Thought to be the largest recorded in the UK, the rodent was captured at a home in the Normanby area of Redcar and Cleveland.
Last month a giant rat shocked social media users after a photo of it was posted online
| Facebook/David Taylor/Stephen MartinCouncillor Paul Salvin, representing the Normanby Ward as the deputy group leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: "We've noticed an increased presence of them in our area, topped off with that massive 22-inch rat that was caught last month which won't be the last one caught."
Mr Salvin told The Telegraph: "With the 'go live' date of April 2026 for food waste bins, if food isn't stored properly, this could add to feeding the rats as well which is concerning."
The Tory councillor called on water companies to do more to stop rats entering people's homes by improving infrastructure.
He added: "Most rats come up from their sewers and cause the issues.
"Cracked water pipes, crumbling infrastructure in our sewer system, it's almost a perfect storm for rats."