A PLAGUE of rats has closed a Mid Sussex police station.

The building at Burgess Hill has been shut temporarily to allow pest experts to wipe out theinfestation.

Officers' attempts to remove the intruders by laying down poison backfired when dead rats started to rot under floorboards.

Burgess Hill's Insp Geoff Thomas said: "The smell is pungent. The rats are able to get in beneath the foundations and into culverts and cavities and it's pretty ghastly.

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"Some of them are crawling in there to die."

He said the rats had been a problem for months and that the worsening conditions at the police station had forced the closure.

The infestation was first noticed last August and officers started laying poison.

Insp Thomas added: "It's the welfare and health of our staff, visitors and members of the public we are concerned about."

It is not known how long it will take before the building in Civic Way is given a clean bill of health.

Officers stressed police cover will not be affected by the closure, although most staff would work from Haywards Heath.

Insp Thomas said: "The number of officers policing Burgess Hill and surrounds remains unchanged, albeit they will be deployed from Haywards Heath while the building is thoroughly inspected for rodents."

The station's front office was today being moved to the Burgess Hill Town Council Help Point in Church Walk.

It will be manned from 9am until 1pm, Monday to Friday.

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