Health fears as rats spotted in trees at park

Rats have been spotted close to a park's play area

There are fears of a resurgence of a serious disease as the number of rats rise in a popular park, a former councillor has said.

Mark Wright, who previously worked for Bristol City Council, said he is worried about hygiene around Victoria Park's play areas, and the risk of Weil's Disease, which is spread by rodents.

He said: "I saw a whole family of rats, six in total, climbing around in the tree. It's not getting bitten - it's the disease that the rats spread around which is the problem."

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said any reports of rats in parks will be looked into.

Weil's Disease is a form of bacterial infection which can by spread by rat urine.

There is about 50 to 80 confirmed cases of the illness annually in the UK and it can be fatal.

"For many, many decades, it was a serious problem in the harbour and that was why for decades people were not allowed to swim in there because of the risk," Mr Wright said.

"Here [at the park] kids play around on the grass, roll around, they do roly-polies and all that kind of stuff."

Unlike pet rats, wild rats are known to carry potentially deadly Weil's disease

As a cost-saving measure, the council have removed bins from some areas of Victoria park.

At the skatepark, people have been bringing their own black bags to collect litter and Mr Wright said that any discarded food will benefit the rodents.

"Rats and mice can have multiple litters of babies a year when the food is good, so the population can explode in just a matter of months.

"The idea that we can live in peace with them in cities is delusional," he added.

A council spokesperson said: "Where specific locations or concentrations of reports are identified these will be investigated further."