HUMANE rat traps are to be laid out to deal with vermin infestation near an Oxford play park.

Residents, businesses and councillors have raised concerns about the numbers of rats in the grassed area in Manzil Way, off Cowley Road, which is near to a children's play area and in front of a health centre.

It is thought large numbers of rats are being attracted by bread which is being dumped - several loaves at a time - under the trees.

Now Oxford City Council's east area committee has decided to spend £800 on rat traps, which cost £200 each, to deal with the problem.

Eastern area co-ordinator Fergus Lapage told a meeting at Larkrise Primary School, Boundary Brook Road: "The environmental health team are going to erect signs and they are investigating who is dumping the bread and we will be asking businesses to help identify the culprits."

Nuala Young, who represents St Clement's ward on the council, said: "We need to have not just an idea for a sign to go up - maybe that will stop the bread being dumped, but we will still have the problem with the rats.

"The whole area is absolutely infested and these rat traps are the only way of dealing with it, apart from closing the area off to the public, because poison cannot be put down."

Ms Young had suggested that someone needed to go down to Manzil Way to try to catch people in the act, but nobody had volunteered to do so.

East Oxford resident Barbara Tucker said: "There is a huge magnification in numbers of rats there now."

It is understood two people, believed to be dumping bread, have been asked to stop. Mary-Jane Sareva, who also represents the ward, added: "There needs to be more than letters sent out, because it's obviously not working."