Almost 15,000 calls were made by Hounslow residents to Hounslow Council over the last 3 years. However, it's not all doom and gloo...
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Rats, mice, and fleas have bugged almost 15,000 Hounslow residents during the last three years. The scuttling of tiny paws or legs have driven thousands of householders to contact Hounslow Council for help, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Statistics show the number of official reports made to the authority about the presence of vermin or pests in local homes since 2007. Creatures that have had to be dealt with in the borough include cockroaches, squirrels, mice and rats.
As well as pests in the home, garden pests have also contributed to the figures. The total since 2007 stands at 13,108, with 2007/08 as the worst year, when 4,811 requests for help were made to the council – an average of about 400 per month.
There was a dip in 2008/09 when the number of reports dropped to 4,156, followed by a further drop in 2009/10 to 4,141.
The number of reports of pests such as cockroaches and fleas dropped dramatically from 1,352 in 2007/08 to 805 in 2008/09, but then rose again to 1,067 in 2009/10. Vermin levels have declined slowly from 3,459 calls in 2007/08 to 2,074 in 2009/10.
A spokesman from Hounslow Council said: "The main pests we deal with are those whose presence has public health significance, such as rats, mice, cockroaches and fleas. However, other nuisance pests are also dealt with, such as wasps, squirrels, garden ants and the like. In fact the service is able to either deal with, or offer advice on, most types of household infestation."
Householders are charged 'competitive rates' by the council for most treatments apart from dealing with rats, which are tackled free of charge on domestic properties. The council spokesman added: "Other areas of work include co-ordinating the control of bee swarms during the summer, control of pests in large blocks and the development of borough-wide pest control strategies."
Paul Wyman, managing director of Pest Control London, deals with pests and vermin in Hounslow among other areas. He said: "These are high figures but it's not surprising. We do get a lot of enquiries from Hounslow. It's mostly rats, mice and bed bugs. We have seen a big increase in recent times in bed bugs particularly."
If you have a pest infestation, then do not hesitate to contact your local London pest control company, who will be able to offer you advice and services to eradicate your pest.