Rats are 'overwhelming' British cities after the hottest summer on record, with Manchester the worst hit, pest experts warn

Rentokil recorded a 15 per cent year-on-year rise in rat sightings between June and August. Manchester saw the sharpest increase in rodent control requests, up 26 per cent, followed by Oxford at 24 per cent and Leeds and Bradford at 23 per cent. More than six in ten people surveyed had spotted a rat within the previous twelve months. Experts warn that as temperatures drop, rats will move indoors.

Brown rats need around 60ml of water a day, so heatwaves drive them into residential areas.

Rentokil's Paul Blackhurst: 'Rats don't distinguish between a clean building and a dirty one.'

The belief that rats are associated with dirty homes is a misconception, yet more than a third of the public still hold it.