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Pest control cuts leave Burton residents fearing vermin
15/12/2011
East Staffordshire residents are mustering themselves for an increase in the number of rats and mice in the borough, after council bosses opted to cut the council-run pest control service to try to save some £60,000 over the next two years.
The Burton Mail has reported that the pest control and extermination service - which has been in operation in the borough for around 35 years - will cease as of the end of March 2012. The council said that the drop in the number of commercial contracts it held has left it as a poor value for money operation and that cutting it could significantly help with the necessary budget cuts.
The consultation document that was put together when the cutting of the service was being researched, stated, "The commercial element (as opposed to one-off treatments) have declined, from 53 over seven years ago, to 33 current contracts of varying size (£160 to £2,700)."
The stopping of the service will affect two employees, who will receive £45,000 in redundancy costs over the next two years. Despite this sum, it is though that the savings for the council are likely to amount to around £60,000.
The move was staunchly opposed by the council's opposition group, who said, that it would hit the poorest residents the hardest.
"If there is no council service, we believe that residents will be tempted to do nothing and no action will be taken," the group said in a statement. "Infestation will spread more easily and will affect residents' health."
