A woman was horrified to discover a massive rat scurrying beneath her while she was sitting on the toilet. 

The shocking encounter made her "scream" with fright at the rodent, which had crawled up through the drains. 

The rat later drowned in the loo, and photos of the incident show the large rodent at the bottom of the toilet with its claws poking out of the water. 

Professional rat catcher Kieran Sampler said: "The rat has gone up another line of the drain and has come up into the toilet - while a woman was on the toilet.

"So we had to get it out, it was pretty bad - I've never had it where it's come up the toilet.

"She was screaming - imagine being on the toilet and something brushes against you."

Over the course of his career he claims to have killed 65,000 rats, saying: "I had a client that had a rat that was living in the wooden lats of a bed - it's crazy what I've seen.

"I had one where a cat brought the rat in during the night, so the family trapped it inside the bedroom.

"I brought my dog in, he identified it straight away but the rat ran into the draws of the bedside table."

In 2018, the 30-year-old started a FaceBook group called Yorkshire Rat Pack, which now has over 76,000 followers. He uses the page to engage with other rat catchers and share his jobs. 

Sampler uses his trusty dogs, which have been specially trained to hunt rats and minimise the need for harmful rat poisons. 

He added: "They kill the rats in seconds. It's more humane than using poison in my opinion, which is why it's never been made illegal."

Sampler says that the winter months bring an increase of rat sightings in homes. To deter the pests, he recommends removing garden foliage, which rats use to build nests.

He also advises reducing bird feeders, disposing of dog poo, and rat-proofing decking.