GIANT mutant rats the size of cats have left residents in England living in fear after invading an entire row of terrace homes.

The plague of rodents are pounding around in the lofts “like dogs” above the heads of terrified homeowners.

The puppy-sized rats, some measuring as long as 45cm, have been swarming around their homes and kitchens.

Yet despite repeated complaints, council pest-controllers said residents are responsible for controlling the vermin.

But they said they felt powerless to stop as the giant rats move indoors to escape the cold.

Melissa Gillingham, 23, living in Gravesend, Kent, said: “The first time I knew about it was when the lady down the road started giving everyone rat poison because she said she had a rat infestation.

“Then I started hearing them, running around in the loft. It sounds like a dog in there. We can hear them every morning, every night.

“Rat poo started appearing, and we found a dead one, after putting out the rat poison, and it was literally 40cm long.

“We put out peanut butter to try and lure them, but they were just going straight for the poison — not touching the peanut butter.

“And apparently it takes a week for them to die once they’ve eaten the poison.

“But we’re a bit worried about putting the poison down, because if it takes them that long to die, they could just die in the walls and we don’t want that smell.”

Another resident, who declined to be named, said: “I had a water leak in my property.

“Hyde Council left a hole under the kitchen sink and the cupboards — it was all damaged.

“And I was stood at the kitchen sink, and one just ran straight across my feet. I nearly sh*t my pants.

“It was massive. I’m not joking, it was like a three-month old puppy or something. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“We could hear it scratching around under the fridge and my dog was going absolutely mental.

“This rat just darted across the floor and back down the hole.

“We had to replace our entire shed when a 20cm or 25cm rat ate through part of it.

“Now we’ve got a metal one — hopefully it doesn’t eat through that too. But I wouldn’t be surprised. They’re massive.”

Grandmother-of-two Sharon Martin lives a few doors down and described how she heard “scratching” before noticing a disgusting smell taking over the entire house.

She said: “Back in the summer, I could hear a scratching in the lounge, and I said to my partner, ‘there’s a mouse down there’.

“My next door neighbour has got a tumble-dryer, and because of the warmth, and because it suddenly got cold, they were looking for the warmth.

“I said to my partner, ‘that’s going to attract the mice looking for warmth’.

“Well in mid-August, we went on holiday to Turkey for two weeks and I knew what was going to happen.

“We left poison around the front room.

“While we were away, my daughter came round to make sure it was all right.

“And I got a phone call and she said about the smell.

“I asked if she had left any rubbish, if there was anything left in the fridge — but there wasn’t.

“Anyway, when I came back, I opened the front door and it hit me. It absolutely stunk.

“Immediately I knew that it wasn’t a mouse. There is no mouse in the world that could smell like that.

“It was definitely a rat.

“It smelt like gone-off, rotting pork, and it was in the whole house. It was vile.

“We opened all the windows to get some air through, apart from a bit of my son’s bedroom.

“And we realised that it had obviously died in the corner of the loft because that’s where the small was, right above his bed.

“It was awful. We can’t get to that bit of the loft, and it took six weeks to decompose.”

Gouge Avenue in Gravesend is a quiet street full of terraces house next to a railway track.