Composting with rats problem

[size=medium]Hi[/size]
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[size=medium]I am relatively new to gardening and just got a house with a garden[/size]

[size=medium]I got some of the Blackwell compost bins for general garden rubbish, vegetable waste and peelings etc, anything cooked I give to my chickens.[/size]
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[size=medium]I have recently found that the compost bins have been encouraging rats. I have had an exterminator in to fix the problem and they think that the rats are living and mainly drawn to the compost bins. They have advised to get either full metal sealed compost bins or bins that are raised of the floor[/size]
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[size=medium]Obviously these cost money I would rather not spend. I have heard people talk about putting wire mesh under the bins but the exterminator said they would just chew through it[/size]
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[size=medium]I thought compost needed contact with the ground so worms and microbes can get in to do there composting job. Is this true[/size]
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[size=medium]Could I not just get some galvanised metal rubbish bins to have the compost bin and put them on bricks. If it needs access to the ground I could drill some small hole sin the bottom to let worms and bugs in but not rats.[/size]
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[size=medium]How about wormerys. Are these any good for waste. I thought they wouldn’t have the capacity. The majority of our waste are peelings and tea bags.[/size]
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[size=medium]Any help and experience would be great[/size]
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[size=medium]Regards[/size]

[size=medium]Tom Smith[/size]

 

I've got 8 of those 'Blackwall' type bins sitting on concrete bases, have the fronts wired up (see pic) and rats don't get in. I suppose that when casting the base you can always leave out the middle bit, but I've never found this to be a problem, probably as I throw all sorts of stuff in, including weeds with great lumps of soil adhering to them.

 

I was menaing to lay chicken wire as the base underneath
tom

 

Weldmesh (or expanded metal mesh) would be more bite-resistant, take longer to degrade and be less susceptible to damage when shovelling the compost out. Old heater guards can be a cheaper source of mesh than a DIY store. Concrete bases don't have to be 100% concrete and can have lumps of brick, broken concrete, etc. mixed in. An old bucket where the bottom's fallen out/cut off could be used as a former for the central hole.

I suspect that if using only mesh for a base, that rats will be constantly attracted to it and always burrowing underneath the wire searching for a way in..