I’m a pest control expert – here are the worst things I’ve had to deal with on Christmas Day

A pest control expert has shared the horrific things he had to deal with on Christmas Day.

Stuart Halliday, 42, owner of Kill and Cure Pest Control, says mice and rats are the number one thing families should be concerned about during the holiday season.

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And he’s seen more than enough pests in his 26 years in the business.

He told The Sun: “People skip a lot more food over Christmas than usual.

“We’re putting Roses and Quality Streets on the table and filling up our bins faster. It just means we’re giving mice additional food sources.

“People also leave food for Santa. I’ve had calls several times because people have woken up on Christmas morning and realized it wasn’t Santa who ate what they left out – it was mice.

“It’s the time of year when we have to be most careful. You have friends and family opening doors and windows and suddenly letting things in.

“Mice and rats just come in – it’s cold and wet outside, it’s dry and warm inside.”

Even Christmas Day is not a day off for Stuart, who has had to rush to clients’ homes to deal with rodents for the past several years.

He explained: “Once a woman burned her turkey, so she opened her back door to let the smoke out.

“She came back into the kitchen half an hour later and there was a rat eating her Christmas pudding. It wouldn’t go and she was horrified and called me in.

“I couldn’t capture it – I had to photograph it on the kitchen counter. The pellet went through the rat and into the Christmas cake

“They couldn’t eat it after that – it contained a poison bullet and rat brains.

“I’ve also been called when people have eaten their big meal and left the plates on the table.

“A man then went and took a nap on the couch and woke up to a mouse sitting on his stomach.

“People get a little lax, they have a few too many sherries and then they let their guard down. People just have to be a little more careful this time of year.”