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Wirral's mouse league has been revealed, with areas of Birkenhead and Wallasey dominating the top ten locations for the highest number of service call-outs for the vermin.

The news contrasts to the recently revealed rat leagues , which saw the relatively affluent areas of West Kirby, Upton and Higher Bebington come out in the top three - but they rank far lower when it comes to mice.

Figures obtained from a Freedom of Information request to Wirral council show that since the start of 2017 to April this year, there have been a total of 521 service requests relating to mice.

While West Kirby, Spital, Raby Mere and Caldy were the areas in the table with the lowest number of call-outs since the start of last year with just a single entry, there were others unlisted across the borough with none at all.

The figures just include the number of pest treatment service requests received by the council's environmental health department, but not complaints over refuse nuisance - which can also be associated with mice.

The council also stressed the figures show the numbers of people who pay for council pest control, so "are not indicative of the numbers of mice in these areas".

So listed in reverse order, here is the league table of the 39 Wirral areas that have seen council environmental service requests for mice:

=36th West Kirby, Spital, Raby Mere, Caldy: (1)

(Image: Jason Roberts)

These four areas finished bottom of the pile with the fewest call-outs. They include West Kirby, which, while sitting bottom of the mouse league, was top of the rat league, with 32 call-outs.

=33rd Eastham, Thornton Hough, Saughall Massie: (2)

=27th Barnston, Gayton, Heswall, Noctorum, Pensby, Irby: (3)

=25th Beechwood, Claughton: (4)

=23rd Bidston, Meols: (5)

Residents in all 13 of these will be relieved to hear their areas scored well in the charts, with between two and five call-outs each.

22nd Newton: (6)

21st Leasowe: (7)

20th Bromborough: (9)

These three areas also all saw fewer than 10 call-outs.

=18th Bebington, New Ferry: (11)

17th Greasby: (12)

16th Hoylake: (14)

15th Woodchurch: (15)

These five areas all received between 10 and 15 call-outs, with Greasby’s 12 a big drop from the number of rat call-outs it saw during the same period. The large village had 28 call-outs for that type of vermin, finishing 4th in the rat league.

=13th Egremont, Rock Ferry: (18)

12th Higher Bebington: (20)

Egremont, Rock Ferry and Higher Bebington all finished just outside of the top 10. In terms of Higher Bebington, 16 of its 20 call-outs involved mice in the living area of the home as opposed to the loft.

=10th Poulton, Prenton: (22)

These two were the first entries in the top 10, with Prenton’s number not dissimilar to the number of rat call-outs during the same period (24).

= 8th Oxton, Wallasey: (24)

7th Seacombe: (27)

These three all score highly as Wallasey and Birkenhead’s dominance of Wirral’s mouse league top 10 really begins to show.

6th Upton: (29)

5th New Brighton: (30)

4th Moreton: (34)

Residents of Upton, New Brighton and Moreton may be concerned to see their areas feature so highly in Wirral’s mouse league, with 29, 30 and 34 call-outs respectively. New Brighton saw 25 call-outs in 2017 alone, the majority of those involving mice in the living area.

3rd Birkenhead: (36)

The town itself places 3rd in Wirral’s mouse league with 36 call-outs - a fair few positions higher than its rat league ranking, which was 9th with 19 call-outs.

2nd Tranmere: (42)

Neighbouring Tranmere continues Birkenhead's prominence in the top 10 with 42 call-outs - 32 of those coming in 2017.

1st Liscard: (44)

Liscard is crowned the unenviable title of ‘Wirral’s mouse capital’, with 44 call-outs in total. It’s a complete turnaround from its number of rat incidents, which was just one - meaning it was 40th in that table and has all but swapped places with West Kirby.

Responding to the statistics, a Wirral council spokesman said the figures show the number of people who pay for council pest control instead of other providers, or who take action themselves, so they "are not indicative of the numbers of mice in these areas".

He added: “Residents who find mice at their property are advised to act quickly and employ a reputable pest control contractor to look into the problem.

"The council’s website includes details about our range of pest control services, including a telephone advice line for anyone who needs more information.”