RATS are becoming an increasing problem in parts of Cardigan because some householders are putting food in black binbags, a town councillor has warned.

Cllr Catrin Miles described such a practice as ‘totally wrong’ and said those affected were having to dig into their own pockets to pay for pest control.

“I’ve had an increasing number of complaints about litter and from people with rats in their gardens,” she revealed.

“And these are people who’ve been living here for forty years and have never reported such a problem before.

“Suddenly these rats are becoming a bit of a plague. We should also try to ensure people put black bin bags out on days when they are actually meant to.

“Last week the situation was so bad in town that I had to call on a couple of council boys to come down on Saturday night and take them away.

“In one part of town they collected no less than 50 bags.

“People are putting their bags outside other residents’ houses two or three streets away and it’s just not right.

“We need more signs up and possibly we also need to ‘name and shame’ people because we can easily find out from envelopes in the bags who they are.”

Cllr Morvenna Richards called for ‘a massive re-education’ of the general public as far as household refuse was concerned.

Cllr Yvonne O’Neill said the problems were made worse by holiday homes. “Black bags are being left outside these properties for up to three weeks prior to collection,” she added.