A rat infestation at Oxford's Covered Market has been wiped out.

Last month, it emerged that the city council's pest control team had been called in to tackle rats in the service yard at the historic indoor market.

Officers in the city council's environmental health department have been tackling the infestation in the yard off Market Street, and there is no longer any sign of the rats.

The service yard contains a compactor where all the traders' rubbish is dumped, but some waste, including food, was not properly disposed of, and attracted the vermin.

All rubbish has now been cleared from the service yard, which has also been resurfaced.

The area has also been made pest-proof, with any holes in the walls filled in.

Mary Clarkson, executive member for waste, said pest control officers had told her that the rats had eaten poison laid down because there was no longer any food waste available.

Alan Lester, a spokesman for the Covered Market Traders' Association, which represents 42 traders, praised the council for responding quickly to the problem.