{"id":317174,"date":"2025-08-04T12:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T12:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/317174\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T12:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T12:55:10","slug":"britains-biggest-rat-found-in-yorkshire-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/317174\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain\u2019s \u2018biggest rat\u2019 found in Yorkshire home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 huxBsk\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p>A supersized rat thought to be the UK\u2019s biggest has been captured by pest controllers in a home in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/north-of-england\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">north of England<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The giant animal, which measured 22 inches long, was found in the Normanby area of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/education\/schooltables\/redcar-and-cleveland-1380203.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Redcar and Cleveland<\/a> after a resident called in exterminators.<\/p>\n<p>Councillors who were sent an image of it described the rodent as \u201calmost the size of a small cat\u201d, and have claimed pest control issues have got \u201cout of control\u201d since the end of free services for residents in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/labour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Labour<\/a>-run local authority.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2025\/08\/03\/huge-rat-normanby-redcar-cleveland-labour-council\/\">Speaking to The Telegraph<\/a>, Eston ward councillor David Taylor said the rodents were becoming \u201cbrazen\u201d and had \u201csettled into the neighbourhood\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe longer this is ignored, the worse it will get,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is a growing problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The council insisted it has a \u201cdedicated pest control officer\u201d who works on council-owned land, and said it also \u201coffers advice to residents where possible\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Writing on a joint <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> page, Mr Taylor and fellow councillor Stephen Martin said the area needed \u201ca proper vermin control strategy\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs many of you have seen, the rat infestation we raised has now made national headlines,\u201d the Conservative Party councillors wrote. \u201cWhat started with 100 comments on social media has grown to nearly 1,000 on Teesside Live, and now it\u2019s been picked up by both local on Teesside, Yorkshire, Birmingham, and London and national press. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s clear this needs a joined-up response \u2014 from government, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/undefined\">local councils, housing providers, landlords, the NHS, commercial developers, and the water board. We need a proper vermin control strategy and fast. This situation should never have been allowed to get this bad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt plenty of blame to go around, but what matters now is what we do next to stop it getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr Taylor said councillors would now be calling for an \u201curgent action plan\u201d including a borough-wide survey into the vermin and a treatment plan.<\/p>\n<p>A Redcar and Cleveland council spokesperson said: \u201cThe council has a dedicated pest control officer who manages pest issues on council-owned land.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we no longer provide a wider pest control service, we do offer advice to residents where possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe council continues to work with Beyond Housing, Northumbrian Water and other partners to address complex issues and explore potential solutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is also helpful guidance and preventative measures on our website to support people in dealing with pests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The largest rat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/giant-rats-invade-homes-toilet-b1927230.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">believed to have been caught in Britain<\/a> measured 21 inches from tip to tail and was found in a property in Bournemouth in November 2018. According to the RSPCA, rats in the UK can grow up to 11 inches on average.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-317174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114970605936705176","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}