AN UNEMPLOYED father-of-three who turned on pest control staff after his garden became infested with rats feels he is being treated unfairly.

Lee Parker, 27, of The Limes, Kingsnorth, near Ashford, says he should not be penalised because he swore.

The rats spread to several neighbouring gardens, which are all being treated by council pest control officers who have been told not to go near Mr Parker’s home for their own safety.

“I did go off at the bloke on the phone. I swore at him and called him a name,” said Mr Parker. “I got irate because they weren’t doing a good enough job.

“They were coming every one or two weeks to put down bait and poison but that’s not good enough, I’ve seen the Life of Grime programme and they do much better stuff.”

The rats first made a home in Mr Parker’s garden six months ago but had multiplied when he came back from holiday last month, prompting him to call to complain.

“My shed was full of rats, I had to burn it down and rip up the paving. We were running around the place smacking the rats with spades. It was a nightmare. The bloke next door had half a bucket full of dead rats.”

He says he is being treated unfairly by the council for swearing.

“The council said they weren’t going to send someone around because I had apparently threatened to beat him up.

“If I was going to beat him up I could sit on my doorstep and wait to see him come to my neighbours.”

Ashford council’s Brigid Burnham said: “Over the last year the council has helped with the successful treatment of more than 1,200 reports of rats and mice on land or property.

“As part of the council’s commitment to maintaining a clean and safe environment this is a service that is provided completely free of charge.

“Such a free service would be withdrawn only in extenuating circumstances in particular where homeowners, landowners or tenants have been unco-operative in providing access to the land or property to allow our pest control contractors to treat the problem or where they have been at the receiving end of aggressive, violent or threatening behaviour.”