A mouse plague in New South Wales, Australia, has forced a jail to relocate thousands of inmates while it carries out cleaning and renovations.
More than 400 prisoners and 200 staff at the Wellington Correctional Centre will be moved to other facilities over the next two weeks.
The mice have caused extensive damage to prison infrastructure, including internal wiring and ceiling panels.
New South Wales is suffering from the worst mouse plague in decades.
A bumper grain harvest has boosted the number of the rodents in the south-eastern state, where they have have been wreaking havoc for months, especially at farms.
The state prison authority said operations at the jail would be reduced for about four months while it was cleaned, repaired and protected against future plagues.
“Mice have invaded the center and the damage is to such an extent that we’re much better off evacuating the centre for a period of time,” said Peter Severin, commissioner of Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW).
Most staff will be redeployed to prisons in the west of the state, while inmates will be transferred to a number of sites, including the Macquarie Correctional Centre.
READ ALSO: Drugs and Homosexuality in Ghana Prisons
Source: BBC
