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A giant rat the “size of a domestic cat” was captured in the attic of a house in Dublin last week.

The terrifying house visitor was living in the attic of a home in Brownsbarn Woods, Kingswood, beside Citywest, and is, according to pest control workers, one of the “bigger” rats caught recently.

This revelation comes just days after a huge rodent - dubbed "Ratzilla" - was snared in Sweden. That one was 15 inches long, not including its tail.

Homeowner Grace Walters said the rat, which measured 24 inches from nose to tail, came to the attention of the family after they heard loud scratching sounds coming from the ceiling.

She said: “We’re only after moving into the estate and shortly after we heard a scratching noise in the ceiling which was followed by the really loud sound of wood being chewed.

“We rang a pest control company and they came out and put a camera in the attic to see what was going on - and sure enough the rat was there, hiding in a corner.

“They had to cut a hole in the ceiling to reach the rat and when they grabbed it out, none of us could believe how big it was the size of a domestic cat.

She added: “It’s quite scary to think that a rat can grow this big and strong, especially when you have kids in the house.

Marcus Giusti, of Total Pest Control, captured and removed the rat, alive, from the Brownsbarn home.

He said: “This is one of the biggest rats I’ve seen in my line of work, and a very dangerous animal to be in a house.

“Lately we have been shocked at the size of rats and believe that the growing trend in the number of rats and their size could be down to household waste being dumped around estates and the climate warming.”