The video shows dozens of rats running around on the pavement in Whitechapel (Pictures: @IG1IG3/@mdarihanahmed301)
A video shows the unsettling moment a huge swarm of rats burst from under bins in east London.
The footage was filmed in Whitechapel on Saturday evening, where locals have previously complained of a rising rat problem.
The camera initially focuses on four or five rodents inspecting some discarded takeaway boxes before panning out to reveal a whole hoard of creatures running out from under the metal bins.
They scavenge amongst the rubbish strewn on the ground, seemingly unfazed by nearby pedestrians and passing traffic.
The video was shared on Instagram by IG1IG3 with the caption: ‘Rats spotted in Whitechapel this evening during Iftar time. On your watch.’
Iftar is the meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan.
The post has more than 300 comments and almost 4,000 likes.
One person wrote: ‘The plague is coming back! Watch this space!!!’
Another added: ‘They’re every evening. I drove past the same spot. Couldn’t believe how many there was, I saw people just walking pass like it was normal.’
Several people mentioned the large number of food outlets in the area, which they said attracted the vermin.
A rat on top of a Tower Hamlet bin (Picture: TikTok/mdarihanahmed301
In September last year, Tower Hamlet locals told the MailOnline that a bin strike had led to a huge increase in rats and that they saw rodents every day.
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In 2017, meanwhile, a report by Susan Hall – London Assembly Member and Conservative candidate for this year’s Mayoral elections – revealed the borough had received 30,000 complaints about rats in the previous five years.
This was the highest number in London.
However, the borough failed to make the top 10 of the worst areas in the UK for rat infestations in 2022.
Swansea picked up the unenviable number one position with the local authority called out to almost 17,000 residential infestations. London borough Southwark came second, with more than 16,660 investigations, and Lambeth at ninth place with 3,600.
Rats represent a ‘significant public health risk’, according to the British Pest Control Association.
A swarm of rodents emerge from under the bins (Picture: IG1IG3)
The rats inspect some takeaway packaging (Picture: IG1IG3)
They carry ‘many nasty diseases’ including listeria and salmonella which can spread to humans if their urine or body comes into contact with food preparation areas.
Rodents can also cause significant structural damage to homes by gnawing through anything in their way, such as floorboards, plastic pipes and electrical cables.
Tower Hamlets Council has been contacted for comment.
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