FREE rat control for council tenants should be extended to private householders, according to a Guiseley and Rawdon councillor.

Cllr Paul Wadsworth, Shadow Spokesman for Environment and Sustainability, wants Leeds City Council to extended its domestic pest control service so that rats can be dealt with for free wherever they emerge. He argued it was unfair that a nest of rats dislodged from a council property into a neighbouring private home would see the first resident receive the service for free and their neighbour paying a fee.

He said: “Rats are a pest and a menace wherever you live, so I think the current distinction between private homes or council rented properties is too blunt.

“At the moment it doesn’t seem fair that a council tenant currently gets this service for free, yet next door might be a private householder who has to pay. In all honestly, they’re probably the same rats. They are a transient pest and laying traps in one location may simply move a nest elsewhere.

“Where this happens, there should a more strategic approach covering domestic properties.”