Thrown-out food and takeaway waste are being blamed for making rats get "bigger and bigger" after a 22-inch (55cm) long rodent was found in a house. It was discovered in a home in Normanby near Middlesbrough and residents said an increase in vermin numbers was being made worse by new housing developments forcing them out of their habitats.

Local officials in North Yorkshire, England, shared a photo of a massive rat found inside a local home that measured more than 22 inches from nose to tail.