MORE than 500 people have signed a petition urging the council to take action over a plague of rats invading a car park.

Business owners believe the problem has become a public health concern after over a dozen dead rats were found around the King Street car park, in Stanford-le-Hope.

Walkers Invicta Taxis has called out Rentokill four times, at a court of £750.

Manager Christine Walker said her employees no longer wanted to come to work

She said: “It’s horrifying, some of the rats I’ve seen are about nine inches long. I have to sweet talk my staff into working because none of us want to be here. People think I’m joking about how bad the problem is but I’m not.

"The rubbish in the car park is an absolute joke – I’ve really got to the end of my tether to be honest.”

The petition, signed by local traders and residents, calls on Thurrock Council to take urgent environmental health enforcement action to force the owners of King Street car park to clean up.

Business owner Jan Morgan-Willmore said she had been “driven to tears” by the problem.

She claims one rat, the size of a small cat, even tried to leap into her first floor kitchen window.

Mrs Morgan-Willmore said: “I was just sitting in the kitchen with my daughter, and I caught the ratin the corner of my eye. It was in the gutter then it jumped at the kitchen window, slid down and fell off.

"If my window had been open it would have been in. I felt sick and I started crying. It’s just disgusting.”

"It’s been a nightmare."

King Street car park, formerly owned by the council, was sold to Richard Wheatley, of Capital Land Partners LLP, in 2013.

Angry residents and business owners claim rubbish has not been collected from the site for the past ten months.

Tory councillor Shane Hebb, who represents Stanford-le-Hope West, said he supported the call for enforcement action.

He said: “Some volunteers and I cleaned up the car park last August, but it didn’t seem to fix the problem.

"Residents are aggrieved, it’s attracting vermin. It needs to change before the hot weather takes a turn for the worse. "There’s a lot of people who are very upset and very anxious about the situation.”

Capital Land Projects LLP and Thurrock Council were contacted for comment but did not respond by the time the Echo went to print.