MALVERN Town Council has promised action to combat the growing number of rats in Victoria Park.

The council, which owns the park, was told of the problem during a public question session at its meeting last Thursday (September 6).

A man who lives near the park said his dog had caught four rats on his property and that Malvern District Council had told him he could be charged £31 a call-out to deal with the problem.

Acting town clerk Rosemary Lansdowne said she had written to the district council's environment department, which is responsible for pest control.

She said that she would also get the town council operations team to address the problem.

Bread put out to feed birds at the park is thought to be encouraging the rats.

Town mayor Whinray Coates: "We are trying to keep it clean."

Andy Ferguson, environment team manager at the district council, said this week that he was aware of the problem.

He said: "Members of the public have complained and we have been putting secure poison bait boxes down."

He confirmed that a call-out fee £20 is charged for visits to private homes, or £40 an hour to businesses, but that this also covers a number of follow-up visits.

He said no charge was made for visits to the park as this was a public place.