HISTORY books detailing Weymouth's infamous link to the Black Death may have to be rewritten after it was suggested giant gerbils rather than rats were responsible for spreading the plague.

New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that black rats might not be responsible for the plagues that killed millions of people across medieval Europe and instead repeated outbreaks of the Black Death may in fact be traced to gerbils arriving from Asia.

The deadly Black Death, or bubonic plague, arrived in England in 1348 through Melcombe Regis, then a separate town to neighbouring Weymouth, carried by a sailor from Gascony. By the end of the year it had spread throughout the West Country, killing up to 50 per cent of the population and causing the end of the feudal system.

It originated in Asia and arrived in the ports of the Mediterranean in 1347, brought in by the land and sea trade routes of the ancient Silk Road.

Scientists suggest that instead of being introduced once to Europe and surviving, the plague was in fact brought in many times over a period of more than 400 years.

The study says the bacterium which caused the plague, Yersinia pestis, is carried in fleas which in central Asia were prevalent on giant gerbils.

Warmer springs and wetter summers on that continent led to a boom in the gerbil population.

Fleas would then jump ship to find different hosts - including domestic animals or humans.

The study said: ''It is commonly thought that after its initial introduction from Asia, the disease persisted in Europe in rodent reservoirs until it eventually disappeared.

''Climate-driven outbreaks of Yersinia pestis in Asian rodent plague reservoirs are significantly associated with new waves of plague arriving into Europe through its maritime trade network with Asia.”

Professor Nils Christian Stenseth, from the University of Oslo, said that if the research was correct it would mean rewriting history.

He said: ''We originally thought, waves of plagues, were due to rats and climatic changes in Europe, but now we know it goes back to Central Asia.''

Dave Allen runs history tours around Weymouth including one on the Black Death.

He said: “It's a misconception, it's nothing to do with the rats, it's fleas. The rats become the host of the parasite carrying flea.”

He added that he could see the parasite using gerbils as hosts at its start point in Asia and then transferring to rats and finally to people.

He added: “I can't see it being gerbils in Weymouth, but it's a funny story.”

Weymouth historian Mark Vine said: “If its fleas, they are not just going to be in one species, they will be in all rodents and domestic animal and even birds - and humans of course.”