Enfield: Residents of a Palmers Green road are calling for action after finding that their road is infested with rats.

Tenants of homes in Kelvin Road have, for several weeks, noticed large black rats in their gardens and, more recently, on the pavement.

Gillian Young, one of the residents, said: "We have them there all the time and parents are too scared to let their children play out in the back gardens."

She added: "The situation is getting out of hand."

The council and Thames Water are jointly working to try to put an end to the problem but so far there has been no headway.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "We have visited the site and bait has gone down at our instigation.

"Thames Water is also putting bait in its drains to see if this helps the problem."

She added: "We are monitoring the situation to see if this treatment has worked.

"If we find the rats persist we will work with all the residents to begin a block treatment programme."

July 8, 2002 09:30