Insects joining rodents in city's pest problems

COCKROACHES AND BED BUGS ARE NOW SEEN MORE OFTEN

- ANDY PHILLIPS

A FORMER council pest control officer who is in the fourth year of running his own business says that Plymouth continues to see high numbers of rats and mice plaguing homes but insects like bed bugs and even cockroaches are now a problem too.

Tony Boutwood set up his business Affordable Pest Control just over three years ago, and has nine years' experience of dealing with everything from rodents to Asian hornets.

But Tony said he has seen vast changes in pest control since he worked for Plymouth City Council, with the changing nature of communities seeing different types of pests appearing.

"Mice and rats are year-round, they are bread and butter for pest control and we deal with them every day," he said.

"But come the summer we get a lot of fleas and bed bugs and cockroaches are becoming a problem now."

He continued: "When I was working for the council we would get maybe one flea job per day, but now in the summer we are getting four flea jobs a day, so insects are picking up massively across the city.

"Insect-wise, there are a few things which have affected it, as bed bugs are a massive problem in lots of other countries, and with people going on holidays more, we are picking them up.