A woman has demanded action to drive rats from a rundown Keighley housing estate.

Diane Gallagher believes that rubbish left in empty houses and gardens is encouraging vermin to set up home in Woodhouse.

She said they had forced through a wall into her own home in Woodhouse Grove and had been seen walking across the road.

Dozens of houses in Woodhouse have been vacated by residents in recent months in readiness for demolition.

Housing trust Incommunities plans to knock down 106 homes in Woodhouse Grove, Avenue, Close, Drive, Road, Way and Walk.

Ms Gallagher said she first noticed the rats about four weeks ago when she heard scratching from behind the walls.

She said: “I got up one morning and there was a hole in the kitchen wall. It’s disgusting. We shouldn’t have to put up with this.

“I didn’t have this problem till they started moving people out of the other houses. There’s rubbish in the gardens where people have moved out.”

Carol Morgan, Bradford Council’s environmental health manager, said she was aware of some issues with rats on the Woodhouse estate. She said: “Pest control officers have been treating a number of properties.

“We have surveyed the area and while there is no obvious source of the problem, we will continue to visit the properties until the infestation is under control.

“We have also arranged for Yorkshire Water Services Ltd to start baiting the sewers and are liaising with Incommunities about their properties. We do not charge to deal with rat infestations in houses because of the potential health risk they pose, but we do charge for mice and other types of infestation.

A spokesman for Incommun-ities said any reports it had received about rats in Woodhouse had been promptly reported to the council’s pest control section.

He said: “In order to ensure the neighbourhood remains tidy we carry out monthly estate clear-ups along with Streets Ahead, Bradford Council and our estate services team.”