More than one hundred rat and mouse complaints are made to London councils every day, according to a new figures.

In a report compiled by Harrow councillor and London General Assembly member Susan Hall, it emerged that they had received 180,000 complaints over the past five years.

Entitled ‘Rat Land’, the report noted that the rat population in the UK has increased by 19 per cent and there are fears that, in London, the problem will only exacerbate.

Ms Hall said: “The figures in my rats report suggest London’s crawling – and the problem is getting worse.

“We’ve seen in Paris what can happen when increasing populations of rodents are ignored.

“Not only does they present a public health issue, they risk damaging the reputation of individual boroughs and harming the global view of London as a clean and attractive city.

“If we want to avoid our city being overrun by rats like Paris and Harrow, we need a co-ordinated approach to tackle this problem, led by the Mayor.

“The recommendations in this report will go some way to cleaning up London’s streets and ratting out our city’s nuisance rodents.”

Earlier this year, a viral video emerged of large rats swarming over flowerbeds and bags of rubbish in Greenhill Way, Harrow.

Harrow Council has worked hard to tackle the problem and, while there is clearly a lot more to be done, it looks to be heading in the right direction.

Sachin Shah, leader of the council, said: “We are determined to get rid of vermin on public land.

“We have a baiting programme in hotspots, including more rat-traps and we’re replacing old bins with rat-proof ones.

“We’re even replacing our vulnerable vegetation with flowerbeds that rats don’t like – they won’t burrow into stones or plants with short roots.

“If we’re going to beat the rats – we all have to work together. We’re doing what we can – including using our enforcement powers – to encourage traders and businesses to dispose of waste properly.

“Like everyone we want to make Harrow clean again, and encourage residents to continue to report all environmental issues through our website. If it’s on private land, our pest control service can help.”