Your report on rats in the centre of Southampton a couple of weeks ago did not worry me, as I rarely go to Southampton, but ten days ago I found rats had taken over my current compost bin at the bottom of my garden.

I opened the bin to put waste into it and saw a rat disappearing down a burrow which it had used to gained access through the base.

Subsequently a heap of compost appeared beside the compost bin and the remaining compost was thoroughly turned over (better than I could have done it).

This situation continued for two days, by which time I had obtained rat poison in sachets and I proceeded to drop two or three each day, hoping to kill the offending rat, but the sachets that I have put in the bin have been taken, so do rats live in colonies and use a common burrow, and am I killing more than one rat?

I have now finished the box of sachets and will buy another to complete the task.

Judging by the way they have cleaned my compost of all food stuffs and slugs, are they not a good thing for Southampton, clearing the waste food that we humans leave to produce disease?

In Eastleigh the council provide brown bins for waste food and insist on the waste being wrapped in newspaper to protect the bin men from illness.

The rats in Southampton are protecting its binmen from disease.

HAROLD PRICE, Address supplied.