"They seem to be getting bigger" - says captor of 'giant' Dublin rat

(Picture: Marcus Giusti/Total Pest Control)

There are fears that rats are becoming an increasing problem in Dublin after a rodent described as being "2ft long" was caught at a house in Tallaght.

The giant Roland was caught last week in the attic of a house in Kingswood, near Tallaght, after the family heard loud scratching sounds coming from the ceiling.

The family summoned a pest control company who found the rat after installing a camera, trapped him -and were forced to cut away part of the ceiling to remove him.

"It's quite scary to think a rat can grow this big and strong," householder Grace Walters told the Irish Daily Mirror.

Marcus Giusti of Total Pest Control, who was called in to deal with the rat, said it was one of the biggest he has seen in 14 years on the job.

"They're living in the sewer system and they are breaching people's houses through broken, defective pipes," he said.

"The sewer system is a food source for them."

(Picture: Marcus Giusti/Total Pest Control)

Reports of larger-than-average rats terrifying Dubliners follow the widely-reported instance last week of a 15-inch rat captured in the kitchen of a Stockholm apartment.

However Mr Giusti poured cold water on reports that the Kingswood 'ratzilla' was even bigger.

"It was a big rat but I don't know if it was 2ft long," he told breakingnews.ie

"It wasn't dead when we found it - it was so big that the trap didn't succeed in killing it - and to be honest we weren't about to lay it out on the kitchen floor and measure it."

However Mr Giusti did confirm that he had seen a trend of 'larger than average' rats in recent times.

"I've been called out to deal with a lot of big, big rats over the past three months.

"They seem to be getting bigger."