Hamelin, Germany - Hamelin, the German city where a legendary Pied Piper once rid the town of both rodents and children, has beaten a modern-day rat infestation with poison, civic officials said Monday.

Rat numbers surged this summer in an area of overgrown former garden allotments close to the city centre.

In the medieval legend of the Pied Piper, a stranger playing music on a pipe mesmerized the rats to drown themselves in the river Weser in the year 1284.

Hamelin, Germany  - The rats are back in Hamelin, where a legendary Pied Piper once rid the Germany city of both rodents and children.

The city confirmed Tuesday it was battling a rat population explosion in an area of overgrown former garden allotments close to the city centre.

"It's like a rubbish dump in there and has developed into a rat refuge," said municipal spokesman Thomas Wahmes. After a rapid rise in rat numbers this year, the vermin were spreading into a new housing estate nearby.