A German town famed for the tale which saw the Pied Piper lure away a plague of rats has a real-life modern problem with the rodents.

Officials in Hamelin have expressed alarm at a surge in the rat population much like the great plague in 1284 on which the story is based.

But not all of the residents of the town see the rat-infestation as a problem.

Town rat-catcher Guenter Loeschner said: "I think it is quite a nice thing because it this the rat town, and then to be able to be the real rat catcher, well, this is something really great.

"But another reason why I do it is because I think that it is a useful job, and being able to help people really makes it worthwhile".

In the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a man claims extraordinary rat-catching skills and promises to solve the town's rat problem by playing his magic pipe. He lures the rats into the river where they drown.

But after removing the rats, the villagers renege on their promise to pay him so he extracts revenge by using the same pipe to abduct the village children.

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