COMPLAINTS about rats in Blackburn and Darwen have risen by almost 20 per cent in one year. Should we really be surprised?

Is this not a plague that we have brought on ourselves?

We may consider ourselves to be a sophisticated society with our widescreen TVs and mobile phones, but where is our civic pride?

A quick look around the borough reveals backstreets piled high with rubbish.

Our lay-bys have become tipping grounds for unwanted household items. Car parks are no longer places to leave the car, they are also somewhere to dump the detritus that fills the footwells of our vehicles.

We live in the disposable society -- the only problem is that too many of us dispose of our rubbish when and where we please.

With such an attitude it's not surprising that the rodent menace is growing.

You have to wonder what kind of homes some of these people must live in. Images of the Harry Enfield characters Wayne and Waynetta Slob spring to mind, a telly blaring in the corner and a couple surrounded by dead pizzas and piles of newspapers.

But if we let this slovenly sector of the community hold sway we might as well give up now.

Of course, the problem of rats is not solely down to the public's inability to take responsibility for its own rubbish.

Businesses too must take some of the blame as they can be just as unthinking about their rubbish as the householder.

And now we have a further cause for concern -- the recently introduced recycling system which means that garden waste will be collected one week and household rubbish the next.

If householders weren't bothered about their rubbish before, what are they going to be like now they have to think about it.

Perhaps if anyone caught dumping litter had a delivery from the refuse collection wagon instead of a collection, they might desist. Then again, some people would never notice!