![\"Ria](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Ria-Rembadi.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEvidence of the rodents’ presence is regularly found in gardens, houses, cars and gnawed bins<\/p>\n
06:30, 03 May 2026Updated 07:36, 03 May 2026<\/p>\n
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Ria Rembadi has noticed holes in many bins(Image: Ria Rembadi)<\/p>\n
People living in Page Moss can\u2019t decide if the rats plaguing their streets are eating their way into their wheelie bins or out of them as a way to escape being trapped. What doesn\u2019t seem to be up for debate is how sharp the rats\u2019 teeth must be.<\/p>\n
John Carine, a resident of Page Moss in Huyton<\/a> who has been campaigning on the issue for the past eight years, told the LDRS that the rat problem \u201cis an ongoing issue\u201d which he thinks has been \u201ccaused by the council through a lack of sewer baiting, building on all the available land and not baiting up the surrounding areas\u201d.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThey do put an emphasis on the builders that they have to bait their own areas what they\u2019re building on, but there\u2019s never anything about the surrounding areas which is obviously where the rodents are going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Carine said that the Knowsley Council has now started to bait the sewers, but that \u201cpractically every bin in the street, including the recycling bins, they\u2019ve all got rat holes chewed through them\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr Carine said that some people \u201cjust like to blame residents\u201d. He added: \u201c\u2018Oh, it\u2019s people leaving the bins out, people leaving the lids open\u2019,\u201d allowing \u201crats to get in and then chew their way out, which is false.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that there are bins with lockable lids that still have holes in them, which supports the argument that rats are chewing through from the outside and not from the inside.<\/p>\n Holes chewed through the bins in Page Moss. (Image: John Carine)<\/p>\n Ria Rembadi, who lives locally and is a Green Party candidate for Page Moss in the local elections in May, told the LDRS that she has heard the theory of rats eating their way out of the bins before as an argument that \u201cwe didn\u2019t need to worry about them getting in\u201d as long as the lids were shut.<\/p>\n \u201cThey suggested that they get trapped in there but I don\u2019t think that really happens or the bin men would be complaining.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Rembadi said that when she has been out leafleting as part of her election campaign \u201cyou obviously go past the wheelie bins, and you see these massive holes that have been chewed through by the rats, which is insane.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe an animal is able to create a hole that big.\u201d<\/p>\n She also said that when she is speaking with residents \u201cone of the most common things that comes up is always the rats,\u201d and that people have pointed out rat droppings and cars whose wires have been chewed.<\/p>\n Various posts can be found on social media community groups in which neighbours in the area say that rats have burrowed into their cars and caused damage.<\/p>\n Ms Rembadi said. \u201cSomeone needs to do something about it. It needs to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n Knowsley<\/a> Council said it regularly provides help and advice to the local community to help keep rodent populations down and has baited 200 sewers in the last year.<\/p>\n Mr Carine said that he has no issue with the council\u2019s recent introduction of small food waste caddies, which some residents have suggested on social media may be attracting rats, as \u201cI think the issue is that the rodent issue hasn\u2019t been resolved first.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually think the bins are a good idea, because you\u2019re not having food sitting in a general waste bin for two weeks, they\u2019re getting emptied a lot quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Carine said that he has had rats in his garden and house, adding: \u201cI have decking in my back garden, but underneath the decking, it\u2019s all flagged, so it\u2019s not really a place where rats can nest.\u201d He said the council have told him and his wife that they have to take the decking down.<\/p>\n Rat droppings outside a property in Page Moss.(Image: John Carine)<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019ve had to rip all the decking up. There\u2019s no holes, there\u2019s nowhere the rats have got in. As far as prevention goes, everyone is trying. I mean, I\u2019ve got three or four rat traps in my garden. I\u2019ve got bait boxes with poison. I\u2019ve got two ferrets, which actually kill the rats, and even they don\u2019t seem to deter them.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Rembadi said she has also had rats in her garden, which \u201cfreaks you out\u201d. \u201cPeople get rat holes in their garden around here as well, under the fences,\u201d she said, adding that she often sees rats dead in the road as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI always think someone should do something but it\u2019s so horrible for someone to have to pick up a dead rat\u201d.<\/p>\n Posts about rats in people\u2019s gardens, houses, cars and having chewed through bins are published on local social media groups every few days, and a Change.org petition calling on Knowsley Council<\/a> to take urgent action on the rat problem has now received almost 750 signatures.<\/p>\n A Knowsley Council spokesperson said \u201cThe council provides regular advice to help residents and businesses keep their homes and businesses pest free.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to what they can do \u2013 which includes storing and disposing of food and waste properly and ensuring gardens aren\u2019t overgrown \u2013 the council also carries out regular activities including monthly multi-agency environmental action days which brings partners together to spend a day focussing on the most pressing issues in specific locations across the borough.<\/p>\n![\"Holes](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Holes-in-Page-Moss-bins.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Rat](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Rat-droppings.jpg\")
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