A rat infestation in Falmouth has caused a landlord to call for a "co-ordinated effort" to exterminate the rodents after they were seen scurrying through the town centre in broad daylight.

Chris Spencer believes that the infestation worsened after roadworks on Market Street earlier this year scared the rats from their nesting areas and led them to more visible locations above ground, specifically to a half-demolished building on Webber Street.

The building was meant to be demolished in December but work was postponed for health and safety reasons. Chris said: "Visitors see this half demolished eyesore and rats coming out of it, it's not the best look for the town.

"We have got a big rat problem but people want to keep it quiet. They don't want people finding out they've got rats in their business.

"I'd like to see a co-ordinated response from the council and South West Water to eradicate the problem. There may be 30 properties that have to pay £150 each for rat poison, so that's £4,500 altogether to deal with rats.

"Unless we have a co-ordinated effort, we won't reduce the population; you kill some of them and more move in."

A spokesperson from Western Power Distribution, who carried out the roadworks on Market Street earlier in the year, denied that they were responsible.

They said: "When we were doing the work, somebody reported a higher incidence of rats. We brought an independent ecologist and they said there was no increase."

They later said: "Western Power Distribution completed our excavation and reinstatement in April this year. We understand the recent complaint about rodents relates to the demolition of a building some 200 metres away from our work that we completed some months ago."

A spokesperson from Cornwall Council said that they were not responsible for dealing with the infestation, because they have not provided a pest control service for private properties since November 2011.

They also said: "Officers from Public Health and Protection have always and still continue to investigate allegations of rat infestations in public open spaces and ensure the necessary action is taken to alleviate the problem.

"They will also investigate any allegations of pest control issues on private land and we can require land/property owners to take action."