Hundreds of callouts for rats were made by Bolton Council last year, figures have revealed.

Despite many councils making huge efforts to reduce the problem, many residents of Greater Manchester are still plagued by the pesky vermin in and around their homes.

Rat problems hit some areas worse than others – which is why the Local Democracy Reporting Service has created the "Greater Manchester Rat League for 2022".

After submitting Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to each borough council, data has revealed the worst offenders in the region for rat problems last year.

Authorities record the data in different ways so the statistics have been broken down by ward, postcode and area – with some clarifying if the reports came from inside or outside the house (external or internal callouts).

It is important to note that some areas are bigger and also have more densely populated communities, which may affect the figures. 

The data shows that there were more reports from inside the home than outside.

Wigan had the most callouts, but claim that this was due to their three visit approach tripled their figures.

In Bolton 600 reports were made.

The borough is mid-table for rat reports, with the BL1 postcode looking like the worst area in the borough for reporting vermin.

Despite this the council did suggest that they have a rapid approach to dealing with reports from residents. 

A spokesperson for the council said: “To deal with external issues, we sewer bait the areas with historic rodent problems annually. This is predominantly carried out during the autumn/winter seasons, when there is less demand for the service due to summer pests such as wasps and ants diminishing.

“However, when we receive any multiple calls about a particular area or road, this is treated regardless of the time of year and diary space. For rats in residential properties we offer a paid-for pest control service.”

Breakdown of data by postcode:

BL1

Internal callouts: 90

External callouts: 27

Total reports: 234

BL2

Internal callouts: 74

External callouts: 29

Total reports: 158

BL3

Internal callouts: 152

External callouts: 31

Total reports: 355

BL4

Internal callouts: 52

External callouts: 20

Total reports: 135

BL5

Internal callouts: 27

External callouts: 22

Total reports: 98

BL6

Internal callouts: 32

External callouts: 24

Total reports: 106

BL7

Internal callouts: 4

External callouts: 9

Total reports: 30

M26

Internal callouts: 0

External callouts: 1

Total reports: 3

M46

Internal callouts: 3

External callouts: 2

Total reports: 5

Unrecorded location

Internal callouts: 1

External callouts: 0

Total reports: 5

Here is the rat callouts in 2022 league table for each of the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs:

Wigan – 3,605

Manchester – 2,407

Salford – 1,000

Stockport – 832

Rochdale – 771

Bury – 640

Bolton – 600

Oldham – 431

Trafford – 363

Tameside – 286