Borough is UK cockroach hotspot

Barking and Dagenham has been ranked as one of the worst places in the UK for cockroach, bedbug and mice problems.

A national survey that collated figures from every UK authority revealed the borough came fourth out of the UK’s 406 local authorities for the number of calls made about cockroaches. It is also the fifth worse place in the UK for bedbugs and tenth worst for mice.

The figures come from a recent survey by the British Pest Control Association (BPCA), who contacted all 406 of the UK’s local authorities regarding calls about pest control in their areas.

According to their data, Barking and Dagenham, which has a population of 185,911, ranked in 50th place for the total number of pest call outs made per head of population.

The latest figures for 2012 show that 3,227 calls were made last year about pest control, up from 3,187 in 2011, which works out at 17.36 calls per 1000 people.

Last year 370 calls were made to Barking and Dagenham Council about bedbugs, 517 about cockroaches, 622 calls about rats and 1,430 calls made about mice.

The area didn’t fare too badly however with ants, with only eight calls being made in 2012, putting it in 164th place in the UK.

Have you had a problem with pests? Get in touch with us at postnewsdesk@archant.co.uk