Three call-outs every day: Burnley's pest problem fourth worst in Lancashire

A British Pest Control Association national survey for 2016 has revealed that Burnley borough has the 18th-highest rate of call-outs for rat-related issues in the country.

With a total of 831 call-outs for Burnley’s population of 87,000, the statistics showed that for every 1,000 members of the public, there were 9.5 call-outs to address rat problems across the year.

Boasting an average of 2.3 call-outs every day, the frequency of Burnley’s issues with rats has remained consistent, with the 2016 figures mirroring the corresponding data from 2015, while 12 of the other boroughs in the top 20 on the list showed a decreased rate of rat-related incidents.

“The survey isn’t a definitive story on prevalence,” explained Dee Ward-Thompson, British Pest Control Association’s Technical Manager. “It’s important to recognise that higher figures could simply illustrate that a local authority is working proactively to manage any issues.”

Yet, despite 14 of the top 20 most incident-rich boroughs being heavily urbanised areas in which rats typically thrive and boasting populations of well over 100,000, Burnley’s comparatively small population was the third-lowest in the top 20.

The survey also revealed a range of other pest-related complaints in the area, with the population of Burnley logging a grand total of 1,154 call-outs for a range of invasive intruders - an average of 3.2 a day.

As well as 831 call-outs for rats, the total included 134 for mice, 79 for insects, 77 for wasps, 13 for bedbugs, 12 for ants, and eight for cockroaches.

Burnley’s rate of call-outs for all kinds of pests was 13.3 per 1,000 people, giving it the fourth-highest rate of call-outs across the whole of Lancashire after the boroughs of Hyndburn (20.2), Pendle (18.1), and Lancaster (14).