The rodent also tried to eat the family cat.

Erik Bengtsson-Korsås, 44, from Stockholm in Sweden, was away on business when he received a call from his wife saying there was a giant rat in their kitchen.

“I thought to myself that she was just over exaggerating and told her not to worry until I got home," he said.

When he returned he discovered his wife Signe, 39, had banned their children from the kitchen and their pet cat had been attacked by the “monster” rat.

Bengtsson-Korsås soon realised the job was too big to tackle alone and called in pest control.

And this is where the tale gets truly terrifying…

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The rat was apparently so huge that despite being caught in a spring-loaded trap, it would not die and continued to run around the kitchen with the trap around its neck.

Bengtsson-Korsås added: "They [pest control] told me that the rat was so tough it had managed to get into the kitchen by chewing through the brickwork and cement with its incisors.

“It had then decided that it like it inside and had made itself at home – chasing off the cat and my family."

Pest control eventually managed to grab the rat and kill it. Afterwards it was found to measure 40cm from nose to tail.

Afterwards, Bengtsson-Korsås said: "The kids were afraid it would come back to life as some sort of zombie rat as it had seemed so hard to kill. They didn't want to touch it."

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*Shudder*

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