Rats love to live somewhere they can always get water, so allotments are popular because of all the taps and waterbutts around.  I worked in garden centres for quite a few years and you always get them there because of the same reason.

Our site has no chickens on it, but we still get rats around.  Luckily we are surrounded by houses and there a lot of cats that patrol the site, so they never get too out of hand.

I’d agree with John that breaking the tunnel up where you can get to it without disturbing the asparagus may well work.  You will need to keep doing though until they get the message.

Thanks for the responses !

I took the plunge and planted out half the crop this morning, dibbling all of the holes before fetching the leeks, so minimising their exposure. All now covered in mesh, time will tell !

Leeks on a neighbouring plot have been fine, while elsewhere on the site, catastrophic attack. It all seems very random.

A benefit of purchasing the micromesh is that we now a a bit left over, enough to protect a small carrot bed This could be the first successful set of carrots since taking a garden here about 15 years ago.

I was going to take the 36 young ladies to the greenhouse and replant them into something else, not sure what yet.  But as it is pouring rain and none too pleasant, thats another job to put off until ....     GG are you putting your lobelia etc into the outdoors ?  I could plant the fuschias into their container, but not sure how many to plant in it and also the weather.    Surely we cannot have a frost now.    Mrs Bouquet

Rain is too heavy to do anything outside 

I topped up the potato bags, did the weeding and gave all the green veggies their seaweed feed.