Sunbathers forced to flee beach in horror after dozens of dead rats wash ashore

Italy: Dead rats wash up on popular beach in Salerno

Holidaymakers on Italy’s Amalfi Coast - popular with British tourists - were left horrified after dozens of dead rats were swept onto the sand by storm-driven waves. Video clips filmed by beachgoers show carcasses rolling ashore at Torrione, near Salerno, prompting families to abandon their towels and head for safety. Local media reported that heavy storms in mid-August had flushed waste into the sea, leaving the water strewn with rubbish and rodent remains.

The footage, which quickly went viral, shows shocked visitors retreating from the shoreline to avoid coming into contact with the debris. Francesco Emilio Borrelli, MP for the Green-Left Alliance, confirmed that the incident took place on August 18. He said: “Dozens of rat carcasses have invaded Torrione beach in Salerno. Only days earlier, bathers at Mercatello were forced to drag several dead rats from the sea themselves.”

The rats can be seen being washed to shore in the clip. (Image: Newsflash)

Regional councillor Aurelio Tommasetti, of the Lega party, also condemned the scenes. He said: “We thought we had seen everything, but now even rat carcasses dumped into the sea by storm-swollen streams, as reported in the press and shown in videos that spread instantly online.

“The spectacle speaks for itself and has sparked the indignant reaction of citizens and tourists, literally forced to flee the beaches to avoid these remains.”

He continued: “This is not only a matter of urban decorum but also of hygiene and health. Who can guarantee the cleanliness of the sea at Pastena, Torrione and Mercatello in light of these discoveries, some even made by children?”

Mr Tommasetti linked the emergency directly to the storm that recently flooded Salerno. He said: “All this happens just after the storm that flooded and paralysed the city, swelling the streams that carried the carcasses into the sea. It is too late to talk about clean-up now — action should have been taken earlier.”

He concluded: “It is yet another picture of a city that doesn’t work and, even worse, it affects both public health and tourism.”

The discovery has cast a shadow over Torrione beach, a spot prized for its clear blue waters that locals have previously said could rival those of the Maldives.

The area sits within the city of Salerno itself, the main gateway to the Amalfi Coast, a region that has become increasingly attractive to British tourists thanks to new direct flights and a flood of social media attention.

Closer to home, experts are warning that Britain is also on the cusp of a rodent crisis. Kieran Sampler, a pest controller from Wakefield and founder of the Yorkshire Rat Pack, told the Daily Telegraph: “It is going to be a bad winter for rats, and people don’t realise – it is going to be horrendous. There is always a bad winter after a hot summer.”

Mr Sampler, who also runs VermiCure Pest Control and uses Lakeland terriers for traditional rat catching, added: “Over the years, it has been getting worse. The rats are getting a lot bigger. We are catching up to 22-inch rats; 19-inch rats are now standard – they are like a chihuahua. Give it a couple of years, and they will be 25 inches.”

He explained: “There is a lot more waste now than 20 years ago. There are more takeaways, more half-eaten food. There are a lot more high-rise flats with communal bin areas, and this brings a lot more rats. We are catching 19 or 20-inch rats daily – it is getting beyond a joke.”

Councillor Paul Salvin, deputy leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: “We’ve noticed an increased presence of them in our area, topped off with that massive 22-inch rat that was caught last month, which won’t be the last one caught. With the go-live date of April 2026 for food waste bins, if food isn’t stored properly this could add to feeding the rats, which is concerning.”

He added: “Most rats come up from their sewers and cause the issues. Cracked water pipes, crumbling infrastructure in our sewer system — it’s almost a perfect storm for rats.”

Authorities say the surge in rodent numbers has the potential to rival the scale of infestations seen in Birmingham during its bin strikes, or Glasgow in 2023, when rats “the size of small dogs” forced refuse collectors to abandon part of the city. With an estimated 250 million rats already in the UK, experts warn the problem could quickly spiral if unchecked.