Rat problem 'not a health risk'

Health protection officers have said humans are not at risk of infection after a reported rat infestation on Jersey's Waterfront.

Several bait boxes have been put in place in Les Jardins de la Mer to trap and poison the animals.

The Waterfront Enterprise Board in charge of the land says rats are coming over the sea wall at high tide.

A spokesman for Health Protection said Weils disease, which can be caught from rats, was unlikely to be present.

He said: "When you look at the amount of dilution that would take place in something like the water fountain, you are just not going to be exposed anything in the level of concentration that would give rise to a risk to public health.

"We are very keen to work with landowners to make sure that the population is kept to a minimum."