Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Housing association to write to residents about a rat problem in an Oban street

Alison McKnight and her son David Laird 2 near the rat traps at her home.
Alison McKnight and her son David Laird 2 near the rat traps at her home.

A housing association is to write to its tenants about a rat problem in an Oban street after a mother spoke of her shock to find traps dotted around the outside of her flat.

Alison McKnight, 35, was never contacted by West Highland Housing Association (WHHA) to be warned that there was a vermin problem.

A black rat trap was placed in the close outside her flat, another outside the building and two in the indoor drying area.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


Miss McKnight contacted The Press and Journal about the situation this week. She also told of the cramped conditions in the one bedroom flat at Burnside Court, Miller Road, she shares with partner Damian Lard, 47, and their son David, two.

Graeme Bruce, operations manager, WHHA, said: “Historically we are not aware of any tenants having had issues in the vicinity until recently when we were contacted by a tenant who reported signs indicating that a rat had been in one of our properties.

“Traps were positioned in the property by a professional pest control company.  After further discussion with the pest control company we agreed it was appropriate to proactively position additional traps around the common parts of the building.

“Across our stock we have rarely had any issues with rats and have not felt it necessary to  notify tenants that we had taken action however on reflection we acknowledge that in this case we could have been more proactive in communication with tenants and will write to tenants this week.”

Mr Bruce said they would invited the family to a discussion about their housing situation.

Local housing associations and the local authority are working with the Scottish Government to deliver over 300 units of housing in the area with an investment of more than £35million. These will be available from 2021 and will help ease housing pressure in the area.