West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper blasts council over 'years' of rat infestation

It follows complaints by one tenant of West Lancashire Borough Council about having to live with a rat infestation for years.

An Ormskirk resident contacted Rosie to ask for her support after complaining that the council repeatedly failed to deal with the rats living in her attic.

Although the authority has now dealt with the problem, the MP said it had taken too long and wasn't good enough.

The Labour MP said: “I am horrified that this has been allowed to happen.

"No one should have to live with rats in their property, and the council have an obligation to their tenants to ensure problems like this are dealt with quickly and comprehensively.

“Unfortunately, this has not been the case, and my constituent has repeatedly had to fight for the council to do even the most basic pest control.

"I can’t understand why after several reports over the years, the council didn’t try to find the way the rats were getting into the property and resolve the problem once and for all.

“Although the council have now sent a team to investigate, this is several years too late and only after I had to raise it with the Chief Executive.

“It shouldn’t take an MP complaining about a council tenant’s rat problem to get WLBC to take thorough action.

" The council need to work proactively to fix problems when they occur, not wait until the problem gets bad enough the tenant has to contact their MP."

West Lancashire Borough Council was not available for comment.