WANSTEAD: Rat infested field cut back (From This Is Local London)

Evergreen Field in Wanstead High Street cut back by owners at request of Wanstead Society

4:40pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in Where I Live By Dominic Sutton, Senior reporter

WANSTEAD: Rat infested field cut back

AN OVERGROWN field which has become a haven for rats is being cut back by the company that owns it.

Furlong Homes were asked to do some maintenance work on the Evergreen Field site in Wanstead High Street by The Wanstead Society.

The field, which is fenced off from the High Street, is believed to provide a home for rodents which have been straying onto Christ Church Green.

Last month two young sisters told a meeting of the council’s Area One committee they were too scared to play on the green because of the rats.

Christ Church itself has been plagued by the creatures, and there have been reports of the rodents forcing their way in to nibble the harvest loaf.

It is not clear how much of the site is being cut back and nobody from Furlong Homes was available for comment.

Wanstead Society spokesman, Geoff Horsnell, said: “Once the grass gets too long it does become a haven for rats.

“We wrote to Furlong Homes who seem to have responded  to our request to tidy the site up."

Furlong Homes bought the site from the Metropolitan Police in 2002.

In 2004 the council took the decison to refuse permission for any re-development on the land other than for recreation purposes.

Fears have been raised that the company, which is now owned by Country and Metropolitan Homes, will seek to build on the site in the future.

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