Shropshire plagued by pests and vermin
Shropshire is officially one of the most pest-plagued places in the country, according to new figures released today.
Shropshire is officially one of the most pest-plagued places in the country, according to new figures released today.
Between April 2010 and April 2011, pest controllers in Shropshire were inundated with thousands of calls to get rid of unwanted vermin. In the 12-month period, Shropshire Council dealt with a total of 5,641 problems caused by rats and mice, wasps and other insects.
Pest controllers dealt with 2,065 cases of rat infestation, as well as 2,228 wasp swarms, and 724 mice problems.
There were also 48 issues with bed bugs, 31 ant callouts and 400 incidents with other insects.
On average, the council dealt with 19 pest problems for every 1,000 residents –ranking it 38th busiest out of 314 local authorities.
The data comes from the British Pest Control Association National Survey.
Simon Forrester, BPCA chief executive, said: “This is the most comprehensive study of the demand placed on local authorities for pest control ever carried out and it covers a period when the austerity measures were starting to bite.
“There may be a number of local factors why a council appears towards the top of one of the lists, but on a national scale the BPCA is concerned that pest control budgets are being hit.
“That may make it harder for councils to respond as effectively as they would like, which could have implications for both quality of life and public health.
“Authorities are reducing manpower and looking at new ways of dealing with pests. We would urge councils thinking of outsourcing services to use BPCA members – potential public health problems need to be dealt with by professionals, and failing to tackle an infestation properly leads to additional expense and resident dissatisfaction.”
Nobody from Shropshire Council was available to comment. No figures for Telford and Wrekin were available.
Comments for: "Shropshire plagued by pests and vermin "
Salopian Mon
coz they dont pick up green bins anymore init!
Jackson
This doesn’t surprise me at all...
All you have to do is walk around the council estates in Telford.
Full Green and Grey bins left by bin men in the car parks for weeks on end.
Spilt litter from recycling bins on collection days
Full skips left by the skip companies.
Fly tipping or household rubbish in front gardens left for months as people are not willing to pay the council £18.00 for collection.
Maybe Telford & Wrekin council should go back in time when Telford Development Corporation was in charge, if a garden was unkempt or full of household litter they the tenants were told to get it cleared up, or they would do at a charge.
Come on Telford & Wrekin council get some environmental inspectors out there, do the rounds, get Shropshire cleaned up and make people responsible for there actions.
The estates these days are Rodents haven.