Liverpool’s rat league – the parts of the city with the biggest rodent problems

Discovering a rat in your home must be up there with one of the most unpleasant discoveries that you can make.

Unfortunately that was the case for lots of people in Liverpool over the past year, who were forced to contact the pest control team at Liverpool City Council to come and remove rodents from their homes.

The council has made major efforts in recent years to address rodent issues – including a multi-million pound crusade to improve properties, alleyways and the way rubbish is collected across the city – but rodent issues continue to exist and are worse for residents in some parts of the city than others.

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The ECHO submitted a Freedom of Information request to Liverpool City Council asking for the number of call outs made by the council's pest control team to properties in different parts of the city in 2023. From this we have constructed the Liverpool rat league, with the worst affected areas of the city at the top.

The league is divided up into council wards, many of which have changed over the past year. You can find out the names and locations of all the new council wards here.

Here are the final standings for the Liverpool rat league:

Kensington and Fairfield

98

County

92

Anfield

82

Smithdown

73

Yew Tree

43

Princes Park

43

Kirkdale East

42

Wavertree Village

41

Old Swan West

40

Dingle

39

Tuebrook Larkhill

38

Old Swan East

36

Tuebrook Breckside Park

35

Stoneycroft

35

Norris Green

34

Walton

34

Arundel

31

Edge Hill

30

Knotty Ash and Dovecot Park

28

Toxteth

27

Childwall

26

Much Woolton and Hunts Cross

25

Fazakerley West

22

Garston

22

Everton East

19

Clubmoor West

19

Everton West

18

St Michaels

17

Speke

16

Vauxhall

15

Croxteth

14

Penny Lane

14

Grassendale and Cressington

13

City Centre South

12

Fazakerley North

12

Wavertree Garden Suburb

11

Allerton

10

Fazakerley East

10

Canning

10

Festival Gardens

10

Woolton Village

9

Orrell Park

8

West Derby Muirhead

8

Croxteth Country Park

7

Gateacre

7

Broadgreen

7

City Centre North

7

Clubmoor East

7

West Derby Leyfield

7

West Derby Deysbrook

6

Sandfield Park

6

Springwood

5

Greenbank Park

5

Calderstones

4

Aigburth

3

Mossley Hill

2

Belle Vale

1

Brownlow Hill

0

Church

0

Waterfront North

0

Waterfront South

0

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