RATS have been spotted feasting from bins and scurrying under doorways in the back alleyways behind a row of town centre shops.

Images and videos sent to the Lancashire Telegraph show the rodents behind the row of shops in a short stretch of alleyway behind Victoria Street which leads on to Charlotte Street, Blackburn.

The first video showed one rat in a large open bin, nibbling on food waste.

One shopkeeper from the Whalley Range area, who did not wish to be named said: “Some businesses are getting fed up with this and the council have been informed.

“It’s everyone’s responsibility to keep the area clean but some individuals are spoiling it for others.

“We need to work together to get it fixed, and we need to educate others on how to dispose of their rubbish correctly.”

In the second video sent to the Lancashire Telegraph, a larger group of rats can be seen scurrying around the alleyways on Victoria Street and behind Randal Street.

The camera follows the rodents as they clamber up walls and sneak under doors.

However, Councillor Hussain Akhtar, who represents the ward, said it’s not the full story, and the videos only show the bad side of his area.

Cllr Akhtar said: “There’s hundreds of volunteers who clean up these streets every day, me included.

“As you can see, the rest of the streets are spotless.

“Volunteers like Keep Blackburn Tidy are out here all the time and we can’t let a few individuals ruin it for the rest of the community.

“We must stick together as a community to keep our streets and alleyways clean.

“I have spoken to all the shops on this stretch of road and the community is not happy about it. I’m not happy about it.

“When I saw the videos they really hurt and upset me.

“The thing is, most of the businesses are spotless inside.

“These businesses need to work together to sort this problem out, and if they need money to get someone to clean the alleys then we can see what we can do.

“There’s always going to be bad things and good things in any community, and hopefully we can learn from this.”

The news comes just two weeks after residents in the area were warned by community leaders to put the correct items in their recycling bins.

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A number of people had been putting food and black bin bags in the recycling bins resulting in bin men refusing to empty the bins.