A FORMER Forest mayor has warned that the Dean’s vermin problem could become as big an issue as the wild boar population as plans to remove a council-provided pest control service have been approved.

Councillor Max Coborn (Lab, Cinderford East) shot down the idea at a meeting of the district council’s cabinet last week.

The cost-saving measure was suggested by Cllr Chris McFarling (Green, Newland & St Briavels) as the usage of the service has steadily declined while a member of pest control staff has found new employment.

But Cllr Coborn voiced strong objections to the proposal and said: “As it is now, I do some work for landlords and if they have a problem with rats they get the tenants to sort it out.

“But what’s going to happen is they they won’t even report it because they don’t want to pay extra and there will be rats everywhere?

“We already have rats the size of cats in Cinderford and we’ll end up with a rat problem on par with the boar problem.”

Cllr McFarling explained that the number of people using the service has dropped year on year as more people are self-treating using information available online.

After much debate, cabinet members agreed to look into mitigating the effect of dropping the service on poor and vulnerable residents as they drop the service.

A spokesperson for the district council confirmed that these measures would apply to such people in receipt of benefits before the end of the year.