Massive 22-Inch Rat Caught in North-East England, Sparking Calls for Urgent Action

In a startling discovery last week, a 60-year-old woman in Normanby, North-East England, found a massive 22-inch rat lurking in her home. The rodent, measuring over 2 feet from nose to tail, is now claimed to be the biggest rat ever caught in Britain, surpassing the previous record holder by a full inch.

The homeowner's ordeal began with strange scratching and scuttling sounds within the walls, followed by two kitchen floods caused by the rat gnawing through a pipe. When the boiler stopped working, an engineer found the remains of a loaf of white bread, indicating the intruder had been helping itself to meals.

After hiring a private pest controller, the woman finally had the enormous rat trapped and killed in her loft. Local Conservative councillors were quick to share a photo of the massive rodent, calling on the council's Labour administration to conduct a borough-wide "vermin survey" and initiate an immediate rat "cull" in Normanby.

Experts say the incident is a symbol of the growing rat problem in the UK, with sightings of larger and bolder specimens becoming more prevalent. Factors such as changes in bin collection schedules, the presence of abandoned buildings, and an abundance of food waste are believed to be contributing to the rise in supersized rats. Pest controllers have reported encountering 18- and 19-inch rats regularly, indicating this is not an isolated case.

As the Normanby homeowner's ordeal has made headlines around the world, it has raised questions about the reasons behind the emergence of these "supersize" rats. Scientists suggest that the rats' ability to adapt to human-provided food sources, as well as potential resistance to some rodenticides, may be enabling them to reach their full potential size. However, they caution that these larger rats are still outliers, and the focus should be on addressing the underlying conditions that allow the pests to thrive.