The TDA issued a statement in response to stories in a gardening magazine and national newspapers, which claimed that low-level decks are contibuting to a rise in the UK rat population.
The stories say that gaps below decks offer safe and dry homes for rats, as well as nutrients due to scraps of barbecued food being dropped between the decking boards.
“Anyone who suggests that garden decks lead to rats moving in is scare-mongering,” said TDA director of operations Steve Young.
He said decks voids were inhospitable places for rats due to the sterile area created before construction using a weed-suppressing sheet and layer of gravel. He also said deckboard gaps were not large enough for food to fall through, while dripping rainwater draining through the gaps did not make the void particularly dry.
He cited Keep Britain Tidy’s newly-launched campaign, which says fast food street litter is the biggest cause of growing rat numbers.
“People should have no qualms whatsoever about rats moving in if the deck is built in line with the procedures we recommend.”
Mr Young said timber decking continued to be as popular as ever, with TDA web enquiries in 2006 reaching more than 127,000 by the end of August, already surpassing the 126,000 record set during the whole of 2004.
