A WOMAN fears her council estate is overrun with vermin after catching 34 rats in five days.

Chris Grimwood, who lives on the White Hill Crescent Estate, in Pelton Fell, near Chester-le-Street, realised the extent of the problem when she opened her back door and stepped on one of the rodents.

After moving her shed, she discovered a nest, which is where she said she caught the rats.

Mrs Grimwood also discovered her children's pet rabbit had been attacked, after rats chewed through the wood of the hutch.

The animal was discovered, still alive, by Mrs Grimwood's 11-year-old son Kyle.

She said: "I don't feel comfortable letting my kids out in the garden now, or even the dog, because of the fear they will pick up Weil's disease from rats' urine."

Chester-le-Street District Council sent out a rat catcher three days after Mrs Grimwood contacted them and he laid down bait.

He is due to return on Wednesday to assess the situation.

Mrs Grimwood said she feared that the rats were nesting in empty homes on the estate.

She feels so strongly about the condition of the area that earlier this year, she created a calendar featuring the rotting rubbish and smashed windows in the streets surrounding her home.

Mrs Grimwood used the calendar to try to shame the council into cleaning up the area.

The estate is in line for an overhaul with some areas earmarked for demolition and rebuilding.

Work should be completed by 2008, but Mrs Grimwood said the problems caused by rats in empty homes should be tackled now.

She said: "There's all these empty homes where they can nest and then they come to our homes to feed."

Chester-le-Street council's strategy manager, John Banham, said the authority was dealing with the problem.

He said: "Pest control officers have dealt with the request to come out and look at this particular property and we've checked the empty homes, but there doesn't appear to be a problem there.

"Obviously, the overall condition of the estate is one we're dealing with.

"We've developed a plan for the future of the Pelton Fell estate and started to improve the area."