[JohnW]

I've heard of this happening but have never actually witnessed the event myself. I used to work in Skelmersdale in the 1960's and some old guy in a pub there told me he'd seen it happen twice. The way he described it was the rats came up out of the sewers in their thousands and a sea of them poured down the street. He said that on one occasion he was in the street as they ran towards him and he just stayed perfectly still and the stream parted and they just ran around him leaving him unharmed. Don't ask me how they came out of the sewers because I don't know the answer. Neither do I know how reliable a witness the old guy was, he could have been pulling my leg but he appeared serious and sincere.