TOWNS are fighting a rat invasion after it was revealed that complaints about vermin have risen by nearly 20 per cent in a year.

Complaints about rats infesting shops, homes and businesses in Blackburn with Darwen increased from 2,220 to 2,626 in the 12 months ending in March.

Today the man responsible for the council's waste services said the figures were the highest he had known - and warned they would get worse unless people stopped dumping bin bags and other rubbish in the street.

And concerns are growing that the borough's new waste collection service - which involves picking up non-recyclable waste such as food every two weeks - could make the area even more appealing to rats and other vermin.

Around 21,000 houses now have to split their rubbish into three containers - two for recyclable waste one for non-recyclable - and the council has warned that people who fail to do so face being banned from rubbish collections.

That has already prompted concerns that people will just take to dumping their rubbish in the streets. Flytipping complaints topped 5,000 - a rise of 60 per cent - even before the new bin policy was introduced.

The 18.2 per cent rise in Blackburn and Darwen is against a national rise of 11 per cent for brown rats, 13 per cent rise for summer rats and a two per cent decline for mice.

Coun Mohammed Khan, executive member for housing and neighbourhoods, said the figures for rats had been rising steadily and added: "There is a rise in reporting of rats and mice in the borough and nationally in recent years.

"This is partly because councils do more to encourage people to report these pests. Rats and mice are in the same category because people don't always distinguish accurately between them.

"We always try to respond to calls about rats or mice in domestic premises within 24 hours. I urge people to look after the borough and to make sure that they do not drop waste or leave food outside which could encourage these pests."

Conservative leader Coun Colin Rigby, said: "Surely the number of complaints will rise even more when we have 21,000 people leaving food rubbish in their bins for a fortnight because of the new collection system.

"I would like to know the health implications of this, and it is a concern that the number of cases of rats and mice being seen is already rising faster than elsewhere."