DAILY STAR The nest of giant rats found in London

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Professional rat catcher Lord Dean Burr snapped sickening photos of a family of giant rats which he flushed out of a home in Tooting. He claims the rodents have got so fat through cannibalism, feating not he remains of fellow dead rats. The six rats, all living on a housing estate, were discovered during a routine inspection by the pest controller. Lord Burr said: "Getting six this big in one swoop is unheard of. I reckon we got the majority of the family.

Fascinating facts about rats Tue, March 15, 2016 With giant rats discovered in London, here are 11 fascinating rat facts. Play slideshow Getty 1 of 11 Rats don’t have great eyesight so they rely on their adorable whiskers to interpret their surroundings

“They were big, a foot to two feet long – that’s the size of a cat. "Rats will eat mice and they will eat each other as and when they die. “So it’s possible that these rats got so big by attacking and eating smaller rats." Despite traps being ion the properties, he says the vermin were so big the traps did not kill them.

And in response to bigger targets, companies are now investing in beefed up traps, he added. Lord Burr recalled: "They were just left alive wedged in there." Working as en exterminator for the past 15 years at his company, Lord Environmentals, he says the size of the rats in his latest haul are the biggest he has seen in his career.

GETTY Fears giant rats could sweep through homes fuelled by the warm winter

It’s possible that these rats got so big by attacking and eating smaller rats Lord Burr

He said: "These are the biggest I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t want to corner one or be face-to-face. “They will fight and they will bite and they will defend if they have to. It is a serious issue.

"They are getting bigger and bigger.” The unusually warm winter has pushed predictions for the rats population to swell to 200 million, many of them super sized.

GETTY Suppliers are thinking of making bigger traps

But it is not just the UK which is being gripped by the epidemic, as Argentinian primary students were confronted by a huge rat running around their school.

Teachers managed to trap the rat on the roof of the classroom, and subsequently killed it.

CEN The rat found in the Argentinian school