RESIDENTS of Ilkley will be shocked to learn that the high-class tourist town has been lumped together with two rundown inner city Bradford areas as the district's vermin hotspots, writes Olwen Vasey and Paul Langan.

Pest control officers have identified Ilkley, Manningham and University wards as the three worst hit areas for rat infestation.

Although the news will come as a shock to the genteel residents,

district and parish councillor Anne Hawkesworth said she was not surprised at the announcement.

"It comes as no surprise to me. I have seen them in my garden and in an offshoot road from the main town centre. When I have reported it I have been accused of scaremongering. Something must be done about it," said Coun Hawkesworth.

She said she believed that overflowing rubbish bins and litter and food left on the river bank by

visitors was the main problem.

Coun Jim O'Neill, executive committee member for homes and environment, said yesterday: "lkley is important as a tourist destination and I promise swift action to protect this image."

He said he wanted to involve businesses and the community in trying to tackle the problem.

The news of rat infestation in the town came as a surprise to Parish Council vice-chairman Lexa Robinson but she also believed that rubbish left lying about could attract vermin.

Coun Robinson said: "No-one has said anything to me - I haven't heard anything about rats.

"But what I do worry about is people leaving rubbish bags at the side of their wheelie bins instead of putting them in. That will encourage animals to break open the bags."

Coun Robinson urged householders to ask Bradford Council to provide them with another wheelie bin if one wasn't big enough for them.

Bradford pest control officer Dennis Shipway told a meeting of the environment scrutiny committee this week that the council and Yorkshire Water - the company responsible for baiting the sewers - had already agreed an action plan.

The authority will supply the company with quarterly reports, giving post codes of trouble spots to enable to them to deal with the problem.

But members said they wanted further action in view of public concern about the menace.

Latest figures show the number of reports across the district has risen by 25 per cent from 1,270 calls during 1998 and 1,588 in the past year.

Following the meeting, Mr Shipway said the Ilkley rats could have come from culverts and streams and added that they might even be water voles.

He said: "You can't always tell

figures from reports received either, because you could have the same rat running along a number of houses in a row and different people getting in touch with us."

But Coun Hawkesworth said: "If they are seen wandering around the town and distressing people it does not matter what they are."

Members of the committee agreed that dumped rubbish may be responsible for Ilkley's rat infestation, and Coun Hawkesworth has called for tourist areas such as the Riverside Gardens to be cleaned up at weekends when large amounts of rubbish gets thrown away.

Ilkley District Councillor Martin Smith (Tory) said no-one had complained to him about rats in the area although he had consulted pest control officers recently about problems caused by pigeons.

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