Despite many councils making strenuous efforts to reduce the problem, many Greater Manchester residents are still plagued by pesky vermin in and around their homes.
Rat problems hit some areas more than others, which is why the Local Democracy Reporting Service has created the ‘Greater Manchester Rat League for 2022’.
After sending freedom of information (FOI) requests to each city council, the data revealed the worst offenders in the region for rat problems last year.
The authorities record the data in different ways, so the statistics have been broken down by district, postal code and area, and it is made clear whether the reports come from inside or outside the house (external or internal calls).
It is important to note that some areas are larger and also have more densely populated communities, which can affect the numbers.
The data shows that there were more reports from inside the house than from outside.
Wigan had the most calls, but he claims this was because his three-visit approach tripled his figures.
In Bury 640 calls were made.
Township isn’t a heavy hitter on this list and falls into middle ground. The council did not offer a comment on the data provided by the FOI request.
Data breakdown by area:
Bury
Internal featured texts: 176
External Callouts: 108
white field
Internal featured texts: 49
External Callouts: 40
Prestwich
Internal featured texts: 48
External Callouts: 41
radcliffe
Internal featured texts: 70
External Callouts: 36
ramsbottom
Internal featured texts: 26
External Callouts: 15
tottington
Internal featured texts: 17
External Callouts: 14
Here are the rat calls in the 2022 league table for each of Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs:
wigan-3605
Manchester – 2,407
Salford – 1,000
Stockport–832
Rochdale–771
bury – 640
Bolton-600
Oldham–431
Trafford-363
tameside – 286
For each district there is a breakdown of the data by district/area, as well as each individual council’s response to the numbers revealed by the FOI.
Not all councils responded and each gave their own verdict on how they treat vermin.