Work will soon be underway to deal with vermin issues in a Merseyside borough as "rats rule the streets".
After people complained of vermin issues right across Knowsley, the council launched a series of 'Environmental Improvement Action Days'. This will see a number of council teams and partners come together to target environmental issues in wards across Knowsley, being held each month up to March next year.
The ECHO has reported on several issues involving vermin in the Knowsley area, with rats described as being "as big as cats" and parents scared to let their children play in their own gardens. One woman previously said it was " like living in the Victorian times " as large rats "rule the streets".
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The initiative follows from the 'Action Day' in Page Moss earlier this year aimed at tackling the rat issues in the area. Knowsley councillors, council officers, representatives from local housing association Livv Housing and United Utilities were all out in force on the streets of Page Moss in a bid to tackle a situation which some residents said felt "out of control."
Councillors knocked on doors in one of the borough’s rodent hotspots as people handed over bins chewed up by rodents, while engineers from United Utilities got to work bating sewers in the neighbourhood. Bins were replaced, fly-tipping cleared and residents advised on how to manage their waste.
For the upcoming programme, activities on the day will include litter picks, fly tip investigation and removal, management of pest issues, removal of waste, as well as education and enforcement of businesses and residents who are failing to adequately contain and manage their waste. The first event of the scheme will be held in the Whitefield ward in Kirkby on Wednesday, October 12.
The compliance of taxis and licenced premises will also be checked, and a highly visible walkabout of the area to engage with businesses and residents, the council confirmed. Future dates and locations will be confirmed by the council.
Cllr Shelley Powell, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods said: "Our Action Day in Page Moss earlier this year was a great success and showed how we can come together with partners to make a real impact in an area of the borough. This initiative is an opportunity to take targeted action and tackle specific environmental issues in a ward, encourage behaviour change and enable communities to participate in looking after where they live and work."
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