PLEAS to save Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's pest control officer and funding for twinning societies have been heeded by councillors.

Concerned resident Barbara Howe told members of the council's management committee that the pest control officer post was about more than killing rats.

And German Marie Wehlack told the committee that scrapping funding for Weymouth and Portland's twinning societies would be like 'losing the biggest peace movement on the earth'.

Officers had recommended the council stopped providing pest control services in order to save £19,300 a year. They had also recommended cutting the £2,000 a year grant to the Holzwickede and Louviers societies.

The societies use the money to help entertain and accommodate visiting dignitaries from the German and French towns.

Miss Howe, of Dorchester Road, Weymouth, said tourism might suffer if the post of pest control officer was abolished in the borough.

She said: "Local authority pest management is about more than just killing rats. It's about protecting public health. I didn't make that up. It's in a report by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

"Weymouth will not remain a popular tourist resort if we are overrun by dangerous vermin. How about a new advert: 'Enjoy your picnic in our parks and don't be frightened of our rats as they join in'.

"They only urinate 80 to 90 times a minute on the grass you are sitting on and their fleas don't spread more than a couple of life-threatening diseases."

Message At first, management committee members were tied at four votes each way on whether to save the position - mirroring the split between councillors on whether to scrap it in the first place.

In the end it was down to committee chairman Howard Legg to make the latest casting vote and save the post.

Committee members were also told funding for Weymouth and Portland's twinning societies helped boost the area's image abroad and increases tourism.

Frau Wehlack, who came from Germany to address councillors, said: "What kind of message does it send if the town turns its back on its international twins?

"These twinning societies are some of the biggest peace movements on the earth."

Pauline Crump, chairman of the Holzwickede twinning society, and Cathy Irving, chairman of the Weymouth and Portland-Louviers Society, both urged councillors to save funding for their groups.

Councillor Doug Hollings said there was a moral and historical obligation to maintain the town's twinning links.

Committee members unanimously voted to reverse the decision to scrap the societies' funding.