Plague of rats in Glasgow to be swept back to the sewers

The big clean-up of the streets and parks of Scotland’s biggest city is now on, union bosses claim.The Daily Record has repeatedly featured scenes of infestation across Glasgow that led the GMB union to give birth to Cludgie the rat - who led calls for more cash to drive the rodents back into their sewers.And the GMB is claiming an historic victory after cash-strapped Glasgow City Council awarded £6.5 million added funding for cleansing services.The cash boost means 200 new jobs, with 150 in cleansing and 50 for park workers to proactively deal with mounting litter and food debris that attracts the rodents in the first place.New specialist teams will also be assigned to road sweeping and fly tipping, with a mission to restore many blackspots back to becoming decent public spaces.GMB convenor for refuse Chris Mitchell said the budget award was a meteoric victory.Mitchell said: “I don’t want to overstate it but this is a game changer, an opportunity to restore some pride in Glasgow and I will be seeking to play a personal part in coordinating major improvements.“This will enable our cleansing services to move on from being a complaints service, where the people who shouted loudest got better services than others.“We’ve endured a staffing crisis, where street cleaning was decimated and it was clearly becoming a health and safety issue.“I launched a campaign that was aimed at reclaiming standards that were lost and I truly believe we can restore them again.“I referred to the abandoned side streets of Glasgow and I was very brutal about it.

I represented the rat epidemic that was becoming very real for many Glaswegians.“And the council has finally seen sense and I’m very grateful for that.”Mitchell said his campaigning saw