Rats seen running around children's play area sparks call for more action over infestation

Sunderland’s Conservative members have raised the problem in Barnes Park as it brands Sunderland City Council’s response to the issue “slow and inadequate.”

While rats have been a long-running issue there, it is the latest location highlighted by the party as they call on more to be done to tackle the invasion in communities across the city.

Councillors Antony Mullen and Helen Greener, who represent the Barnes Ward, say they have been contacted by concerned visitors.

They say they have supported Barnes Residents’ Association as it applies for Community Chest funding to pay for additional rodent treatment so that the issue is addressed “as soon as possible.”

The party has previously issued its own rat action plan as it called for the council to do more, including cutting back shrubs and bushes and make it easier to report infestations to the council online.

Coun Mullen said: “We have now got to the point where reports of rats running around the children's play area do not even receive a response from the council.

“It is deeply disappointing that this has not been a priority despite Coun Greener and me raising it so often.”

Richard Dunn, a candidate for the 2021 elections in the ward, added: “I am disappointed that the council has been slow to respond to the requests of residents to deal with this problem. I use the park often and visit with my family.

“The rodent problem makes it less attractive to families with young children.”

The council has been contacted for comment about the problems in Barnes Park.

The issue of rats has previously been raised in Roker Park, where the pests have been running out in front of families as they visit during the day, leaving children fearful of returning to its play areas.

The council said it had upped its baiting programme in response.

Residents nearby, as well as in the marina, have also raised the issue, while families in Silksworth have also complained and called for dedicated street catchers in problem streets.

Investigations in Sunderland’s East End led to the discovery a sewer nearby had been damaged and was likely to be the cause of the trouble.

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