- Daren George trapped the monster rat at a home in New Aresford, Hampshire
- The 48-year-old pest control expert caught the rat in the garden of the house
- Mr George warned there is a ‘big’ rat problem in Britain which is ‘getting worse’
- Comes amid fears that these giant rats are becoming immune to poisons
A pest control expert has shared what he thinks may be Britain’s biggest ever rat – measuring a huge 20 inches from head to tail.
Daren George said he was taken aback by the size of the rat, which he managed to catch after laying traps in the garden of a three-bed semi house in his home town of New Aresford, Hampshire.
The 48-year-old, from Traditional Pest Control, said: ‘He was a beast. I couldn’t believe the size of it. It was massive.’
‘I was on a job for a domestic property. I was taken aback when I first saw it.’
Pest Control worker Daren George found the 20inch rat in his hometown of New Aresford, Hampshire
He told the Daily Star on Sunday: ‘I knew it was big when half the rat was stuck out the other end of the box we use for trapping them.’
Mr George’s discovery comes after a 19 inch rat was discovered in Poole, Dorset, earlier this year, which was believed to be the biggest ever snared in Britain.
Monster rats are growing to lengths which are typically associated with domestic house cats – and the father-of-five warned that the public can expect rats to grow even bigger in the upcoming years.
He said: ‘Rats are a big problem in Britain and it’s getting worse.
‘Councils never seem to empty people’s bins and there’s rubbish left lying around all over the place – no wonder there’s so many of the things everywhere.
‘My wife doesn’t mind that I’m a rat-catcher but she is scared of them. Fortunately I don’t take my work home with me.’
There are fears that monster rats like the one which Mr George caught are becoming increasingly resistant to shop-bought poisons, which has forced pest control experts to resort to using traps to catch the creatures.
Mr George added: ‘It’s a real battle of wits, but I seem to be winning at the moment.’
The monster rat measured a whopping 20 inches, longer than the 19 inch rat found in Poole earlier this year
Monster rats are growing to lengths which are typically associated with domestic house cats – and Mr George warned that the public can expect rats to grow even bigger in the upcoming years