Paris is seeing some of its worst floodings in a century, which has sent the rat population of the French capital scuttling onto its streets. Now the mayor's office is planning to boost an extermination campaign. It is urging citizens of the 'City of Light' to keep trash to a minimum to deter the disease-carrying rodents. Paul Barber reports.  

With the river Seine reaching its highest level in a decade, rats have become a frequent sight on the French capital's streets, as they evacuate their subterranean nests.

TOURIST "Yeah we've seen a lot of rats recently, I think it's due to the rising water levels of the Seine. But I don't know really, we live close to a big cemetery and there are a lot of rats there actually."

LOCAL RESIDENT "Someone described to me seeing rats in the middle of the Place de la Concorde, crossing the street at one o'clock in the morning!"

"Pretty gross…"

"I'd think 'oh there's a rat, we're in Paris - there's Ratatouille!"

The Parisian hero of that Pixar movie may have been a promising chef with a keen sense of smell. But his real cousins can carry dangerous viruses and could dent the image of the world's most visited city. Paris recently launched an eradication program laying more traps in public spaces - but with only moderate success. And excess garbage outside the city's restaurants is a persistent problem.

PAUL BARBER PARIS "Paris has around 30 thousand trash cans like this one and while these transparent plastic liners are great for averting terror attacks by making it harder to plant bombs, they're also much easier of rats to get into. And so part of the 1.6 million dollar campaign announced last year by city hall to rid Paris of its rodents, includes a plan to cover these bins in plexiglass."

This pest management expert welcomes the move and says rats do need to be contained - but that they still play an important role in the ecosystem.

STEPHANE BRAS, SPOKESMAN CS3D NATIONAL PEST CONTROL ASSOCIATION "Rats are very useful for sewage, underground. They are useful because they eat a lot of rubbish. And if they are not there, it could be another issue. So the national organization of professionals and experts I represent, we don't wish eradication of rats, but control of the population."

The mayor has announced further efforts to clean up the city's streets. And with river levels receding, the resident rodents could soon be back where they belong.

TOURIST "Every city has its problems and it doesn't make Paris a less attractive city."

Paul Barber, CGTN, Paris.