THE number of rat infestations in Blackburn and Darwen has dropped after council bosses put poison into manholes.
Two years ago the Lancashire Telegraph revealed a 400 per cent increase of complaints about rats during the past decade, with residents being blamed for leaving rubbish outside their homes.
Now it has been revealed there were 2,090 reports of the vermin in 2009, down from 3,000 in 2008.
However, the number of reports about mice went up slightly to 566.
Tory Coun John Slater, executive member for customer service, said the labour-intensive job, carried out when traffic was quiet at weekends or evenings, of killing rats by putting poison into manholes had been a key factor.
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