Solitary Council Officer Who Dealt With Thousands of Pests Has Been Eradicated

Published on: 14 Aug, 2012
Updated on: 20 Aug, 2012

See article ‘Lonestar PCO’ in the tabloid front page mock up that forms part of the British Pest Control Association report

National fame has come too late to the ‘Lone Ranger’ Pest Control Officer who existed until last November at Guildford Borough Council.

His one man fight against all the pests that Guildford Borough could offer have rated a specific mention in the annual national survey carried out by the British Pest Control Association (BCPA). But the service has now been outsourced.

Based on figures from the last year GBC had their own officer, 2010-11, the report shows that rats (1,510) were the biggest reported pest that year, by far, followed by wasps (896) and then mice (570). Call outs to deal with bed bugs (25) and cockroaches (15) were thankfully few. Comparative figures for 2011-12 show a decrease of over 33%.

The GBC website shows a long list of creatures that can be considered pests including deer and foxes but it is not council policy to destroy these particular creatures. Pests that the council does provide a service for are: rats, mice, wasps, fleas, cockroaches, cluster flies, and bedbugs.

A spokesperson at Guildford Borough Council stated: “We no longer directly employ pest control staff to carry out the treatments. This has been the case since November 2011.

“We provide a free service for all residents covering rats and mice, with chargeable treatments for wasps, fleas, bed bugs and cockroaches (concessions for OAPs, disabled and those on income support).

“The service is managed and administered by us as a council. We are the main point of contact for residents, making appointments and collecting any payments. The physical treatments are carried out by a company called Monitor Pest Control Services under a joint contract with three other local councils. (http://www.monitorservices.co.uk/pest-control/local-authority.html)

“We are busier in the summer: mainly with wasps nests, however this year has been relatively quiet.

“Commercial premises which require treatments can use our service for a fee. For urgent treatments they can also contact a commercial pest control company.”

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