A Hamilton family says they are trapped by rats and are appealing to the city for help in the face of an invasion in their east Hamilton home.

The owner of the property, Anne Smyth, stated on Sunday that the rats first became a problem just a few months ago, “With the beginning of the summer I saw a few but yesterday we counted 29 rats running across my front porch.”

“You can hardly get to your car because the rats are coming underneath the car. I’m scared to get to my car.”

Residents in the area are pointing to the nearby construction of the Queen Mary Public School that occurred earlier this year as the cause of the problem. They say the construction disturbed the rats.

They also say people often dump their garbage in the school’s dumpsters leaving things like food waste.

Smyth has spoken to the city and is demanding they step in.

“I’m sick about it. The health department won’t do anything. They’re going to send flyers out to neighbours to take care of their garbage. What good is that? We have a rat-infected area, what’s the city going to do? They need to step on this issue.”

Smyth has had a pest control agent come around and leave bait to kill the rats, but the creatures are continuing to thrive.

Pest control experts say Hamilton has three pest problems including bedbugs, cockroaches, and rats.

READ MORE: ‘Perfect rat storm’: Ontario looks to fight increasingly visible rats