AN invasion of rats has forced a mother-of-five to ban her children from their own back garden - and council chiefs are being blamed.

Siobhan Walker, 23, of Cambridge Avenue, Winsford, says Vale Royal Borough Council's refusal to give her family an extra household waste bin means rubbish has been piling up around her garden, attracting vermin.

She said: 'To have rats in your own garden is disgusting - I don't want my kids running around and playing in the garden because they could be bitten or catch something.

'My youngest son is only four months old, and I find it disgusting the council will allow rats to roam around in our back garden.'

Mrs Walker says the council's controversial fortnightly waste collection system is partly to blame.

She said: 'I rang the council to explain but they said we couldn't have an extra bin.

'There are seven people in our house, so between us we create a huge amount of rubbish. The day after the rubbish is collected the bin is full again, and for the next 13 days we're drowning in binbags and mountains of rotting waste. Obviously rats are going to be drawn here.

'How can the council say one bin between seven over a fortnight is adequate? It just doesn't add up.'

A Vale Royal Borough Council spokeswoman said: 'Any family with six or more permanent residents automatically qualifies for a waste audit application. Crews will collect the extra refuse pending the outcome of the audit.'