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Philadelphia Officials Still Waiting For Permission To Clean Up Vacant Lot Causing Rat Infestation

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A North Philadelphia neighborhood is overrun by rats. On Wednesday, the city was unable to begin cleaning up a vacant lot on the 3600 block of Germantown Avenue.

That's where neighbors say they spotted dozens of rats.

Officials are still waiting for permission from the owner of the lot to access the property.

Block captain Yolanda Murray says the rats are spilling over from a vacant lot into homes and businesses, and the infestation is getting out of hand.

She says she reached out to the city and was told six months to clean this up. City Councilmember Cindy Bass says that's not good enough.

"Totally unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable, ridiculously unacceptable. Are you out of your mind that you are asking me to live with rats for six months? How disgusting is that? How disturbing is that? That's a health issue," Bass said.

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