He has been dubbed Southampton’s public enemy number one.

But now the campaign to crackdown on the city’s very own Rat Man has been stepped up.

Southampton environmental health bosses are calling on the public to help them take action against the man who it is claimed is responsible for encouraging the spread of rats in the city.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, the infestation - the worst in 20 years - is thought to be a direct result of one Highfield animal lover who feeds the rodents with large quantities of bread, wheat and bacon.

His feeding sessions are thought to be on an industrial scale, and have led to a campaign by desperate local residents whose gardens and open spaces are teeming with rats.

Now Southampton city council have issued the man with a community protection notice and are asking members of the public to report evidence of him putting down food - but have warned the public not to approach him as he can be ‘unpredictable.’

A spokesperson for Southampton City Council said: “We are aware of the rodent issues in Highfield and our teams are on the ground taking the appropriate action to resolve the issue with as little disruption as possible.

“A CPN was served on an individual on September 16.

“This is a legal notice and it states that the individual must ‘stop depositing any food and or food waste in any public area within Southampton City other than in a waste receptacle identified as appropriate for that use’.

“A breach of the notice may result in criminal prosecution and the penalty is a fine of up to £2,500 per offence.

“In order to prove a breach, we would need to witness the individual depositing the food in a public area. Once we have this evidence we will proceed to prosecution.

“We encourage residents simply to allow our pest control teams to carry out their work. Anyone wishing to report a pest control issue can do so via the Southampton City Council website.”

Portswood councillor Matthew Claisse said: “Unfortunately you can’t just take action without evidence.

"Short of having a detective on him he’s difficult to take down but there has been a person from environmental health assigned to him.

"He operates at very difficult hours and is very clever at doing it at times when most people aren’t around.”

Neighbours living in the block of flats where the man lives say they have complained to housing association Radian as food left in communal areas - including sacks of grain which he has delivered.

They say the are attracting birds and vermin.

One resident who did not want to be named said: “Tenants of Radian in Highfield are so concerned about what is happening in their area that they have met with staff of the housing association with a view to having action taken against the individual.

“ Radian have told them that they plan to meet with their legal advisors having listened to their concerns.”

Radian’s assistant director of neighbourhoods Bernadette Fry said: “The wellbeing of our residents is of great importance to us and we are working closely with Southampton City Council’s Environmental Health Department to have this issue resolved as quickly as possible.”

Hampshire Police said they are “aware” of the situation and are also assisting.

If you have evidence you would like to submit email Southampton city council’s environment health department on environmental.health@southampton.gov.uk