Surely a world without the rodents we look to exterminate anyway would be fine? In this episode of Life Without, our host Alan Davies thinks about how our cities might look if all the rats were removed.

From the sewers in mega cities to the barren countryside, rats are highly adaptable, but what happens when we remove them from their hiding spots? Are we pest-free and will hygiene ratings in restaurants go up? Or will losing them have an impact on all our major scientific break throughs, as rats are regularly used to test drugs that we may consume.

This episode features Steven Belmain a Professor of Ecology and the Centre Leader for Sustainable Agriculture at the Natural Resources Institute; and Joe Shute, a nature writer, journalist, and the author of Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat.

An ITN production for BBC Radio 4