While the Paris Olympics is set to be a festival of socialising and intermingling, city authorities are keen for visitors not to encounter any of the capital’s notorious furry inhabitants.

Humourously portrayed in the hit animated film “Ratatouille”, the French capital’s abundant rat population is no joke for the city’s residents — and could be an embarrassment as the Olympics spotlight falls on Paris.

“All of the Olympic sites and celebration areas were analysed (for rats) before the Games,” deputy mayor Anne-Claire Boux, who has responsibility for public health, told AFP in an interview.