WORCESTER Royal Infirmary has been forced to call in pest controllers after rats were discovered at its Newtown site.

The hospital took action 10 days ago after the rodents were spotted near ward buildings.

The infestation is believed to have been caused by building work on the new hospital disturbing rat nests.

Wendy Guy was outraged when she spotted a rat while visiting her mother Eileen Faulkner earlier this month.

"We'd brought my mum outside for a cigarette when suddenly this black rat ran out from under the pavement outside the front door," said the 48-year-old.

"I was gobsmacked. This rat was right by the front door and could easily have got in."

The hospital has laid around half a dozen rat traps in the area as well as filling in surface cracks to block rodents.

"It's unbelievable you could see rats right by the front door," added Mrs Guy, of Winyates, Redditch.

"How would anybody react if their parents were in a hospital where there were rats? It's terrible."

Worcester City Council's principal environmental health officer Martin Gillies confirmed his department had been alerted to the infestation.

Although a private firm has been hired to get rid of the problem, environmental health officers from the council are overseeing the operation to ensure it does not affect public health.

"The most likely cause is the building work going on at the new hospital, which will have disturbed rats," he explained.

"We'll have to make sure there's no risk of poisons coming into contact with protected species or young children."

Mr Gillies said the operation to exterminate the rats would not be easy because of the amount of open ground they had access to.

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust said no rats had entered the building and environmental health officers who visited the site were happy with the procedure underway.

Pest control specialists were due to visit Newtown daily until the problem was solved.