Hundreds of rats killed in baiting programme after numbers boom

The baiting has been going on around the Marrams sunken gardens off the A149 Runton Road, and the last shelter along the eastern promenade, which is informally known as the 'Donkey Shelter' - as that was where beachside donkey rides used to start and finish.

Tim Adams, town councillor and North Norfolk District Council leader said: "The rats have been poisoned with a mixture of normal and burrow baiting, which has been effective at reducing numbers appreciably.

Rat baiting has been going around Marrams sunken gardens, off Runton Road in Cromer. (Image: Archant)

"It is important to recognise that we are really only managing this issue, and it has always been present.

"Besides sources of food left by humans, there is an abundance of favoured plant life on the cliffs that the rats love to eat."

Mr Adams said it was impossible to estimate how many rats had been killed through the baiting, but it was probably "in the low hundreds" over the course of the year.

North Norfolk District Council leader Tim Adams. (Image: Supplied)

Mr Adams said the rat problem was one of the reasons why NNDC had starting using bagot goats to graze Cromer's cliff's over summer, a programme which started in 2016.

He said that although rats had been a long-term problem around Cromer's cliffs, the relatively mild winters of the past few years had led to a rise in their population.

He said: "What really reduces the rat numbers is a harsher, colder winter, which we haven’t had for a few years.

"I do get a lot of residents and visitors in touch about this issue, but it tends to fluctuate year to year."

He said better use of the Donkey Shelter could also help reduce the number of rats in the area.

Mr Adams said: "We are intending on refurbishing the building in the near future and re-thinking its usage as it is an underused space with potential.

"An increased level of usage may result in a reduced level of rat activity in future."