A RAT was killed with an air pistol after it terrorised a family’s home for a month and even chewed through a door.
It comes as an estimated 200 million rats are legging it into households after a perfect storm of bin delays and flooding.
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Doncaster mum Chloe was horrified when the rodent snuck into her bedroom where she was sleeping with her two-month-old, Ronnie.
The brown rat had chewed two large holes in the bottom sides of the kitchen door that night and let itself into the bedroom.
A clip shared showed the holes in the bottom of the door with chips of wood crumbs left next to them on the ground.
The invasion, in the early hours of November 29, led to Chloe calling her boyfriend Abe who was out at the time and asking him to come home.
A pest control service then attended the house, located the rat, and shot it with an air pistol.
Chloe told YorkshireLive: “We didn’t actually see it. We heard rustling behind the radiator in our room and it was gone. We just ran out. We had to put a towel on the door because we were worried it would chew through the door again.”
“I was actually so scared. I called Abe and told him to come right home. I didn’t want it in the house. It’s full of germs. I was worried it would get Ronnie sick.”
She said the rat had been living in the house for a month as she had noticed items being chewed.
Mark Telford, the pest controller who attended Chloe and Abe’s house, said that he has seen an increase in rat and mouse calls.
Mark, 45, owns Tornado Pest Control Limited and says he has seen a 30 per cent increase in recent months – blaming the issue on local councils letting rubbish pile up.
He said the rubbish provided a food source as well as safe haven from the outside world.
Mark said: “I usually have two weeks off around Christmas but I haven’t been able to this year. We’re tracking 30 per cent above previous years in rat and mouse cases. Over 60 per cent of our external rat callouts have been linked to poor waste management.”
In Glasgow, the rat infestation has become a “public health crisis” after the number of rodents had exploded.
Journalist Caitlin Moran described how her house had been infested by the vermin in November last year.
Caitlin set up Ring cameras to investigate why rubbish was scattered over the floor overnight and discovered rats were accessing her property via the chimney.
“The first time I reviewed the overnight footage, I was treated to what was basically a Rat Studio 54,” she said in the Times.
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