A resident is blaming a heap of uncollected bin bags for being woken up by a rat gnawing at his ceiling.

Dennis Pattison, 70, has been left frustrated after bins have piled up for more than four weeks that have not been emptied. He now believes he has a rat in his ceiling that is keeping him up through the night.

Home Group, which manages the flats on Palin Close in North Ormesby, has arranged for a one-off collection of the rubbish after residents complained. Operations Manager Keith Harrison said a broken bin wheel was hampering waste collections.

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Dennis said: “I have got a rat in the ceiling now. I have to pay to get it removed which I think is very unfair. The council haven’t been back in touch and I reported the bins more than four weeks ago.

“I have reported it and reported it and reported it and it’s scandalous. I live in six flats, they haven’t been back in touch with me. I can hear it gnawing away. I had a friend staying over at the weekend and he heard the rat.

“I have been in touch with Home Group and they said it’s up to me to get rid of it. I had no problems until the rubbish started piling up. It’s a bit unfair on me.”

In its recent financial recovery plan, after a £9m overspend was projected for this financial year, the council announced it would be delaying the start of its subsidised pest control service. A Labour budget amendment earlier this year earmarked £90,000 for the scheme.

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Mr Harrison said he was aware that a pest control issue had been raised by one of the residents. He added: “As part of our tenancy agreements, our customers are responsible for pest control internally within their homes, and we have an agreement in place with Middlesbrough Council for when external situations are reported.

“We understand the issue with the bin collections is due to a broken wheel on the communal bin, and we are continuing to push for this to be fixed as soon as possible. Ensuring our customers have a place to live which is clean and safe is so important to us that we have also arranged a one-off rubbish collection as a gesture of goodwill.”

Middlesbrough Council has been contacted for comment.

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