Regarded as the "vermin capital" of the UK, one city within the West Midlands has had 92 complaints sent to the local authorities in the past 12 months about pests.

The complaints sent to the local authority in the cathedral city of Hereford regarded unruly neighbouring gardens that are attracting pests.

In the West Midlands, as a whole, there have been a record-making 803 complaints; grumbles include overgrown gardens and hedges, vermin, rubbish and untidiness.

These findings come off the back of Airtasker’s Garden Gripe Report, which revealed almost 12,000 enraged Britons have made an official complaint about the dire state of their neighbour's garden over the past year.

Commenting on the research, CEO and Founder of Airtasker Tim Fung, said: "Many gardens across the UK will have grown out of control if they’ve not been managed.

"For those that don’t have the time or feel unable to tackle key jobs in the garden it seems outsourcing these tasks to an expert is becoming an increasingly popular choice."

While you may keep your garden tidy, unfortunately, you can't control what other people do with their neighbouring garden.

The UK regions with the most complaints about vermin:

• West Midlands - 92
• East Midlands - 85
• Wales - 13
• South East - 12
• South West - seven
• Scotland - six
• Yorkshire and The Humber - four

Unruly gardens are more likely to attract vermin, such as rats and mice, so what can you do to scare them away from your lawn?

How to scare off rats and mice

Positive Pest Management recommended homemade deterrents that will prevent the pests from entering your home.

"Homemade and natural deterrents are also useful in keeping the rats at bay," the experts said.

"Some scents, such as peppermint, can irritate the nasal passage of these pests, effectively preventing them from entering the home for some time."

As peppermint is a scent rats "can't stand", adding only a few drops to some cotton balls and leaving them in rat-prone areas can deter the pests from running riot in your home.