HORRIFIC footage of a mass buildup of savage rats who “jump for the throat” has caused shock in Paris.

Le Parisien, the French capital’s local paper, published recently a video of scores of the creature massing in a dustbin.

It was taken on the banks of the River Seine, in the center of all the most popular tourist spots, including Notre Dame Cathedral and the Orsay art gallery.

“For the past year, there’s been a proliferation of rats in all areas bordering the Seine,” a council worker says in the video.

“A colleague told me that a rat jumped at his throat, and another towards his arm. To my knowledge, there haven’t been any bites for the moment, but we shouldn’t be waiting for a tragedy.”

An extermination program was launched last September, with areas closed off during the killings, but it has by no means proved successful.

There are now so many rats that Roma crime gangs have been seen using dead ones to intimidate tourists while trying to steal from them.

Another video taken in July shows a notorious gang of cashpoint thieves waving a dead animal in a distressed woman’s face.

“We’re going backwards,” says the unidentified council worker in the latest video. “For both Parisians and tourists, who come to visit the most beautiful city in the world.”

He was particularly critical of businesses and individuals who leave bags of rubbish in the streets, making it easy for the rodents to bite their way inside.

“The restaurants have about 15 skips at their disposal, yet some still leave rubbish outside,” he says in the video.

Waste disposal workers were emptying dustbins kept in padlocked cages, and opened one to reveal the chilling scene.

The rats inside were all gorging on waste food, springing up and down as they clambered for space. (SD-Agencies)