An Oxford resident used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the latest statistics on rats - and says the figures prove the rat population is growing.

Annie Skinner, who has lived in East Oxford since the 1960s, says she has been plagued by rats at her Marston Street home this year.

Mrs Skinner believes rat infestations have increased since the switch to fortnightly waste collections a year ago.

She told the Oxford Mail: "I didn't believe that the number of rat call-outs had actually fallen so I used the Freedom of Information Act to get the latest figures. The figures do show that the number of rat call-outs for the council has actually increased over the past six months so why does the council keep insisting the number of call-outs is going down?"

In September, when she asked the city council what she should do with a dead rat she had found in her garden, she said she was told to bury it or burn it by environmental health officers.

She also had rats outside her home during the summer and, despite putting poison down, the creatures return- ed.

The figures obtained by Mrs Skinner for May to October 2006 and May to October 2007 show a slight increase.

In 2006 there were 1,212 call-outs, but this year over the same period there were 1,280.

But the annual figure shows a decrease. In 2006/07 there were 2,362 call-outs compared to 2,821 the previous year.

Jean Fooks, executive member for a cleaner city, said: "Residents don't need to use the Freedom of Inform- ation Act to get these figures, they just have to ask for them.

"We have always been very open about the number of call-outs and we do want people to report incidents so we can deal with them.

"The total number of call-outs does fluctuate from time to time, but the trend overall shows a decrease.

"We have been very responsive to call-outs and are asking Thames Water to do as much baiting of the sewers in the city as they can."