The Kent park where Madonna will star in Radio 1's Big Weekend concert next month has been dubbed "rat park".

Regular visitors to Mote Park, Maidstone, have told of spotting rats and the council has urged people to stop dumping left-over food because it attracts the rodents.

Gillian Minall, of Sutton Valence, said she was appalled by the sight of six large rats near the play area.

Mrs T. Wiggins, of Woodford Road, Maidstone, dubbed the area "rat park" and walker Rebecca Daniel, of nearby Square Hill Road, said: "There are always rats there but it’s definitely got worse."

Have your say about rats in our Speak Out, below.Another visitor saw a bin shaking. "We looked inside and there were three rats eating a loaf of bread; they were stuck inside," she said.

Maidstone council isn't planning extra action despite the impending Big Weekend festival on May 10 which will bring thousands of music fans, along with food stalls and toilet facilities.

A spokesman said: "We have a pest management programme in place and take every measure to negate the risk to public health."

Rat factsThere are an estimated 60 million in the UK - one for every person.

It's claimed that a rat is likely to be no more than six feet away from you.

But stories of rats as big as cats are exaggerations. They rarely weigh more than a bag of sugar.

However, one pair can produce 2,000 rats in a year.

More about rats in this week's Kent Messenger.