The rats are back. In June, I caught 12 passing through my garden in four break-back traps — three in one night.

What you need are traps out where they run, baited and covered by a sloping piece of wood so that birds are not caught; a pair of marigold gloves to handle the trap and a plastic bag in which to drop the dead rat.

Edwin Lande, Grampian Gardens, Cricklewood