Monmouthshire has joined the ranks of places across the UK where giant rats are being discovered, after a Goytre man and his wife found one in their garage. The media has been awash recently with reports of 'rats the size of cats' being found in cities across the UK, but now it seems the country is no safer from them, with reports of rats up to two foot long being discovered around countryside homes. Peter Wilson, who has lived in Fairfield, Goytre, for 14 years was shocked to hear his wife call for him after discovering a giant rat in their garage. Mr Wilson said, "On April 1, my wife was in the garage putting some rubbish out, when she heard a rustling from one of the bins. Then all of a sudden, a giant rat jumped out at her. "She came into the house to tell me about what she had seen, but given that it was April Fools Day, I was a bit dubious. However she assured me of what she had seen, so I set about dealing with the problem." As the couple have a dog, they decided against using poison for the rats, and instead Mr Wilson went out to get some humane traps to put in his garage. Mr Wilson said, "A few days later, early in the morning, my wife shouted for me to come in the garage as there were three rats caught in the same trap. "I rushed out in my dressing gown to see, and three rats, one giant one, and two smaller rats were caught in the trap. "When I first saw it, I couldn't believe the size of the biggest one, it must have been two foot long. I had to get some pictures as I thought no-one would believe me when I told them about this." Mr Wilson then had to destroy the rats humanely, using a gas gun, but he is still confused as to how the giant rat got into his garage. Mr Wilson said, "We have had some problems with mice over the years, but nothing like this. After we found them we had a look to see where it could have come in. We noticed a small hole, but it is remarkable that a rat that size could have fitted through the hole we found." Mr Wilson's story joins many that have plagued the UK recently, with reports of giant rats being found in cities like Liverpool, but with the problems spreading to countryside homes, he has expressed his concern for residents who may not be aware of this problem, in light of the health problems that rats can cause. Mr Wilson said, "I want people to be aware of the possibility of giant rats around their properties. While you may expect this could happen in a city, I for one would never have thought it would happen in a place like Goytre. Clearly I was wrong."

The appearance of the giant rats comes just a month after Monmouthshire County Council cut its free pest control services and while this is not linked to the issue of rat size, concerns have been expressed that having to pay for a visit from a pest control officer could affect whether people actually tackle a pest problem. Mr Wilson decided to tackle the problem himself, but there are fears that local residents may not be able to do so themselves, or be able to afford to pay for an external service to solve the problem. Local residents, such as Tracey Rees said, "Councils should have a responsibility to take care of problems like this without charging people. Rats are a heath concern and this problem needs to be tackled quickly, but if people are made to pay then this might not happen." When informed about the incident on Mr Wilson's property, and asked by the Chronicle what advice they could offer residents in a similar situation and whether they felt scrapping their funding for external pest control was a good idea, the council gave the following statement: "Monmouthshire County Council does not provide a pest control service and as a result of the £9.3 million cut in the authority's funding this year we no longer pay for an externally provided one. "It is too early to say what, if any, impact this will have on service uptake. But given the scale of the cuts, this is one of a number of difficult decisions that we had to make. "We would advise any resident who has a need to tackle rats, or any other pests, on their property to contact a bona fide pest control service." Some people may not be happy with this response and have fears regarding the cost of external services but Monmouthshire County Council have also insisted they are still available for advice when looking for these services in the area. The council has also set aside a contingency sum of £10,000 to assist residents to undertake pest control investigations where the cause of the problem may not be readily apparent.