Tax protest over 'rodent' claim

Dr Frances Kennett found rats in her Oxford home

An Oxford academic has refused to pay all of her council tax after claiming that changes to her refuse collection led to rats infesting her home.

Dr Frances Kennett, who lives in the Jericho area, said she had caught the rodents in her home after weekly collections were stopped.

She said the infestation followed waste being left on the city's streets.

The city council said a new fortnightly service was an improvement, and food waste should be kept in sealed boxes.

Residents in Reading have also complained of seeing more rats since waste and recyclables were collected on alternate weeks.

Dr Kennett said she would withold payment in protest.

"I'm going to withhold an entirely significant amount," she said. "I really care so much about the degradation of my environment.

"... Our environment can be reduced to a slum and it infringes on my personal, private standard of living."