City officials are concerned with a growing rat problem in the Thornton Heights neighborhood of South Portland.

They have been been receiving complaints since October and are now putting out fliers warning about the problem.

Officials say residents should make sure any trash goes in a trash can, pick up any dog waste, make sure there isn’t anything lying around the yard and close their garage doors.

Health officials say everyone has to help.

“If there is one outlier, then that population is just going to continue to flourish, because they’ll seek that area to feed or habitat or to borrow or what have you,” South Portland Local Health Officer Josh Pobrislo said.

The city is unsure what is leading to the growing infestation, but there have been reports elsewhere of rats relocating in the pandemic, with restaurant dumpsters no longer an easy food source.