POLICE raced to a student’s home following a 999 call that he’d caught a burglar red-handed – only to discover an enormous rat.
Callum Tait called the police after hearing a disturbance downstairs in his kitchen on Saturday night.
He and other family members then fled the house in Moreton, Wirral, locked it, and even yelled at the trapped “burglar”: “You f****** scumbag!”
Four police officers in two cars turned up, ready for action, within five minutes, only to discover the intruder was an enormous rodent.
A video taken later by Callum, 23, shows the hilarious moment he cornered the rat in a cupboard and then screamed as it made a dash across his kitchen.
The Liverpool University business management student posted about Sunday’s incident on social media, admitting it was the “most embarrassing moment of my life”.
Callum said today: “I rang the police and whilst on the phone the handler was telling me to keep her updated on what I could hear but I just whispered, ‘I can’t, sorry, I don’t want them to hear us’.
“I then grabbed a candle from the living room and then started shouting, ‘You f****** scumbag! The police are on their way’.
“I told Ian, my uncle, to run out with my cousin and get in the car and then I got out and locked the door.”
As the officers approached the house, the drama intensified as they heard smashing coming from within.
But after opening the door the mystery was quickly resolved. Callum said the officers assured him he had done the right thing and departed, ignored his half-joking plea to take away the rat in handcuffs.
Video of what followed records Callum saying: “We can’t get the f***** out.”
Using a brush he then pulls a storage bag out of the way before the rat jumps about a foot in the air and moves to the right hand corner.
The rat attacks the brush by jumping at it, which unsettles Callum forcing him to scream and panic while the rat runs under the cooker.
He then says: “Oh s***, he’s under the cooker. Ian, he’s under the f****** cooker. Ian and I’m in the kitchen with it. Ian it’s back out now. Now don’t you f*****.”
Callum revealed that Ian eventually managed to force the rodent out.
@evanhennessy16: said: “That’s worse than an actual intruder.”
@KeelyKaia posted: “This is gold. Something I’d do.”
@TheNFernandes said: “I am howling.”
@hannaaa_xo added: “I’m creased this was like me the other night with the f****** mouse in my room.”
Speaking today, Callum said: “I was embarrassed about the police situation. It’s funny to look back on but I still feel awful for calling the police out over a rat.”
“I couldn’t help but scream because if it’s not a human or a dog, and it runs, then I’m a massive wimp.”
The incident has raised a smile at Merseyside Police, with Chief Inspector Nick Gunatilleke joking: “I am pleased on this occasion we were able to rat-ify that there was no human intruder and that this ‘tail’ has had a happy ending.”
On a more serious note he added: “On this occasion the home owner genuinely believed he had an intruder and did the right thing and called us.
“Patrols attended a short time later and carried out a search of the house.”
Ch Insp Gunatilleke added: “We would always encourage anyone who believes they have a suspected intruder in their home to contact us.
“We are committed to tackling the issue of burglary and have had considerable success this year in reducing the number of burglaries on Merseyside, arresting over 600 offenders and putting a large number of them before courts.”
