Ryan Stavely, who lives in Killyleagh, County Down, (pictured) holds up one of the giant rats that have invaded the town

A plague of giant rats have left parents fearing for their children's lives after invading a play area and eating their way through wheelie bins on the hunt for food.

The rodents - some as a big as cats - have been spotted running into drains close to homes and digging holes in gardens around Killyleagh, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Residents say they are scared to go out at night or open their windows and admit to regularly hearing the eight inch-long rats scratching at bins - with some too frightened to even lift the lid.

It comes as a wave of so-called 'super rats' have rapidly invaded the country, which experts predicted would outnumber humans two-to-one by this year.

Genetic testing by Huddersfield University revealed that the rodents have developed a mutation that allows them to survive conventional poisons.

Christine Heaney, who has lived in the town for 13 years, told the Down Recorder: 'This issue surfaced quite recently and given young children play in this area we are very concerned.

'Holes have been eaten in bins and we have had to block them with old tea towels to keep the rats out. They are horrible, disgusting things.

'We have seen the odd rat before but nothing on the current scale. The rats have dug tunnels in people's gardens and we are concerned they could end up getting into two vacant properties.'

Ryan Stavely added: 'The rats are quite big and we are all very concerned. Quite clearly there is a plague of rats at this part of the town.'

Rats are not an unusual sight in the area with many homes backing on to the Dibney River, but residents have become concerned recently about the size and number of rodents.

One woman says she was forced to throw away toys and get rid of an outhouse after discovering a 'carpet of rat faeces' inside.

Another resident, Lenny Whan, spotted rats in a storm drain near his home and used a shovel to kill one but wants more to be done to stop the vermin.

Senior environmental health officials from the council were invited to attend a site meeting in the town to discuss the concerns.

This giant vermin was reportedly found in Gravesend, Kent, as experts warn would outnumber humans two-to-one by this year.

Spread: This enormous rat discovered in Cornwall last year measured 50cm. Reports this year suggest that rats in the UK are becoming bigger, and some are developing resistance to traditional methods of control

Rise of the super-rat: Genetically mutated species invades UK outnumbering humans two-to-one

Fears are growing that the UK is headed for an epidemic of monstrous rodents as pictures of giant rats continue to emerge.

Just this week a photograph emerged of a giant rat spotted by a pensioner in Torquay, Devon, after he found a family of four rodents scurrying in and out of bins.

Don Proctor, 80, was sitting in his car waiting to take photos of a cruise ship preparing to moor from a nearby dock last Friday when he saw the vermin raiding containers of food.

Don Proctor, 80, was sitting in his car waiting to take photos of a cruise ship preparing to moor from a nearby dock last Friday when he saw the vermin raiding containers of food

The huge family of four rats were scurrying in and out of bins in Torquay, Devon, by the amateur photographer

It comes just a month after a giant rat - typically found swimming in the swamps of South America -was found in Co Tipperary last week.

The rodent is believed to be the biggest of its kind captured in the country and is believed to have been a pet that has escaped or was released into the wild.

Last year dozens of pictures of so the so-called super rats found in various parts of the country were shared online.

One image, reportedly reportedly taken in Cornwall, shows a giant rat being held up by its tail - and the man holding it is 6ft 1in, giving a sense of its horrifying scale.

It followed shortly after a giant rat was caught in Liverpool, measuring two feet long from its nose to its tail.

Meanwhile a shocking photo of a massive rat in Gravesend, Kent, has also emerged.

The picture, showing the seemingly-dead vermin on a pink spade, appears to have been taken next to a river.

The pictures were tweeted by BBC Radio 2 during a discussion on the Jeremy Vine show about 'giant mutant rats'.

Your pictures: Nick Thomas sent in this picture of a huge rat he caught in Weymouth, Dorset, (left) while a reader in Blackburn, Lancashire, found this giant rodent which was as big as a tube of silicone (right)

Epidemic: This rat found in Swindon is the largest on record for the Wiltshire town. Pest exterminators have warned an influx of super rats may be on its way, with the rodents immune to traditional poisons

The menacing super rat in Liverpool was caught on an industrial estate by a pest controller from Whelan Services, one of the country's largest independent pest prevention companies.

Pest control experts today warned that similar rats are likely to become more common in the UK as more households get careless about how they throw out their rubbish, and discard left-over fast food.

THE RISE OF THE SUPER RAT Super rats are typically larger than sewer rats and cannot be killed by traditional rodenticides. The species has developed a genetic mutation which means substances approved by the EU to control rat populations has no effect on them. Pest controllers are calling for new rules to be made allowing the creation of stronger poisons, though the health and safety risk to humans and the environment this bears is a bone of contention. Most rats are found in food premises, though some have been recorded across the UK in homes. To prevent the creatures from infesting your home or business, experts advise keeping conditions spotlessly clean. Ensuring wheelie bins have proper drain holes is also important, said exterminators. 'A rat in the wrong place is a problem for anybody so you have to be vigilant whether its commercial or residential. 'They'll chew water pipes, electric cables and it puts your property at risk,' said Justin Holloway of exterminators, Prokill. Advertisement

Scientists have now begun charting their rapid invasion into new communities by monitoring their progress in 17 counties in the UK.

Rats in counties such as Berkshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Kent, were found to have immunity to poison.

Places such as Shropshire and South Gloucestershire had slightly less resilient rats with immunity levels at 33 per cent, and 50 per cent respectively.

Around 30 per cent of rats in Kingston are immune to poison, in Sheffield it is 40 per cent, while 75 per cent of rats in Southampton are immune.

While the rats have been changing, humans have been using the same anticoagulant poisons since the 1950s.

One study has found that rats could one day grow to be as big as cows, or even bigger, and could one day fill a 'significant chunk' of Earth's emptying ecospace.

The terrifying scenario could become a reality as super-adaptable rats take advantage of larger mammals becoming extinct, an expert predicts.

‘Animals will evolve, over time, into whatever designs will enable them to survive and to produce offspring,’ said geologist Dr Jan Zalasiewicz, from the University of Leicester.

For instance, in the Cretaceous Period, when the dinosaurs lived, there were mammals, but these were very small, rat and mouse-sized, because dinosaurs occupied the larger ecological niches.

Only once the dinosaurs were out of the way did these tiny mammals evolve into many different forms.

‘Given enough time, rats could probably grow to be at least as large as the capybara, the world’s largest rodent, that lives today, that can reach 80 kilos (17lb).

‘If the ecospace was sufficiently empty, then they could get larger still.’