AN infestation of rats is putting people off using a train station, it has been claimed.

Disgusted passengers and cabbies at Wickford station say dozens of rats regularly run across the tracks, platforms and on to the street outside.

They believe the vermin gather in the railway sidings.

Insurance worker Paul Redmond, 46, from Wickford, regularly uses the station to get to work in London and often sees groups of rats on his travels.

He said: “It’s absolutely disgusting.

“My wife doesn’t like coming to the station because she’s really scared of them.

“Ten minutes don’t pass without you seeing one and it scares people off.

“I’ve seen some huge ones, as big as guinea pigs, scuttling by.

“There’s a lot of rubbish lying about so I don’t think that helps the problem.

“Something definitely needs to be done.”

Mark Everitt, 50, a taxi driver who picks up train passengers in Station Approach, said the problem has been plaguing the area for years and has complained to the station’s managers.

Last week, he found a dead rat, which appeared to have been run over by a car, in the road.

He said: “Rats are frequently seen coming out of the railway sidings and are abundant just outside the station by the car park.”

Complaints about the rats are the latest problem to hit the station, which comes after reports of fights breaking out because there is no taxi queuing system.

National Express East Anglia is responsible for maintaining the station, but Network Rail is responsible for the railway sidings believed to be the source of the vermin problem and has been notified about the issue.