Pest controller spraying hedge wearing protective clothing
The Pest Control Service
The Environmental Health Division has a team of officers and Pest Control Operatives who will respond to enquiries and requests for help.
The team can help in identifying a particular pest, and either arrange for a treatment to be carried out or, where no service is available, advise on what steps can be taken to resolve the problem.
Pest Control Charges
From the 1st August 2007 charges for the Pest Control service where introduced. All prices include VAT:
- Ants - £47 per visit
- Bed Bugs - Free for domestic premises / £47 for commercial premises
- Bees - £40 per visit for domestic and commercial premises*
- Cockroaches - Free for domestic premises / £47 for commercial premises
- Fleas - £47 per visit
- Mice - Free for domestic premises / £47 per visit for commercial premises**
- Rats - Free for domestic premises and public land / £47 per visit for commercial premises
- Wasps - £40 per visit for domestic and commercial premises*
* Bees and wasps will be treated without charge on public land when there is a
serious danger to the general public.
**Mice will be treated without charge on public land when the land is infested to such an
extent as it is prejudicial to health.
Treatment for Mice and Rats will require a minimum of 2 visits. This is because the Pest Control Officer will need to set traps on the first visit and he will be required to remove the traps when the treatment is completed.
Domestic Pest Control treatments
The customer will receive a 50% discount if they are claiming any of the following benefits:
- Housing Benefit
- Council tax Benefit
- Pension Credit
- Income Support
- Income-based Job Seekers Allowance
The Pest Control Operatives treat for a wide range of pests including, rats, mice, ants, fleas, bed bugs and cockroaches. They will also treat for wasps' nests near to a property, or where access is made difficult due to the presence of the wasps.
However, we do not provide treatment services for silverfish, woodlice, squirrels, foxes, pigeons or honey bees, but officers will give general advice as appropriate.
All advice to householders is free of charge
Response times for requesting a treatment varies from the same day for emergencies, to a maximum of 5 working days for ants and wasps. Most requests for the service will receive a visit within 48 hours.
Please note that there is no standby service available outside normal office hours.
Officers are usually able to identify the majority of pests common to households and will give advice free of charge. In the rare event that we are unable to identify the pest, the specimen will be sent, by us, to a specialist laboratory for identification on your behalf.
For further advice on how to control specific pests please click on the following links:
Sustainable Development have a Customer Charter for more information on the services we provide and can be downloaded.
To request a visit or for general advice please get in touch with our Contact Centre.
For insect identification advice, please contact our Pest Control section.
Details for both can be found at the bottom of the page.
Our office hours are:
8.30am to 5.00pm (Monday to Thursday)
8.30am to 4.30pm (Friday)
