ALMOST 60,000 complaints about infestations of rodents and insects have been lodged to council chiefs by fed-up Glasgow residents in five years.
Data obtained by the Glasgow Times under Freedom of Information laws has revealed that Dumbarton Road, Paisley Road West and Allison Street were the city’s three most pest-plagued places, receiving the highest number of individual visits from exterminators.
The presence of rats both inside residential properties and outside in neighbouring areas was reported a staggering 38,081 times, while pest control teams were called out 16,542 times since 2017 to tackle mice inside Glaswegians’ homes.
Local authority-run bug-busters were also called to deal with 873 reports of cockroaches as well as 1,337 instances of fleas, bed bugs and ticks, 768 wasp infestations and 87 squirrel invasions from 2017 until last December.
A total of 646 callouts relating to the presence of bugs and vermin in Allison Street in the Southside of the city were made in just two years between 2017 and 2019.
Paisley Road West was the most visited place in 2020 with 86 and for the last two years it was Dumbarton Road with 234 call outs during 2021 and 2022.
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Complaints peaked in 2019, with 11,321 made throughout the year - the majority of which related to rats and mice.
The lowest number of complaints – 9,018 - came during the first year of the pandemic in 2020, however, that figure increased to 10,850 during 2022.
The rise in vermin in and around the city has previously been highlighted by the Glasgow Times. We told in October 2021 how locals had captured footage of vermin scurrying between the banks of Alexandra Park pond and a kiddies’ playpark, while GMB Union members posed with a giant inflatable rat in the West End to highlight the crisis workers were facing there.
Glasgow City Council’s pest control service deal with public health significance including rats, indoor mice, wasps and cockroaches and bed bugs in the Govanhill neighbourhood only.
They also help with the identification of insect infestations and can offer advice about their treatment.
We visited Dumbarton Road and spoke to one local, who has asked to remain anonymous, about the issue.
The 54-year-old, who says he has flagged problems in the area to council bosses on numerous occasions, believes more needs to be done before the problem spirals out of control.
He told the Glasgow Times: “I’ve noticed rats in the area time and time again, especially at the bins. It seems to be becoming more of an issue again since lockdown lifted, and while there’s only so much the council can do realistically to stay on top of it, that’s not much comfort to people living around here.
“Residents need to play their part too and be more responsible, not leaving rubbish lying around or dumping food cartons from takeaways and the like, which just attracts rodents and create bigger problems for everyone. I get that every city has issues, but it’s not particularly nice having such a problem on your own street.”
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A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council added: “Like in most large urban environments, our Pest Control Service is kept busy responding to a wide variety of calls.
“Pests such as rats and mice breed quickly and are intelligent and adaptable creatures. Unlike many other cities, Glasgow provides a free vermin treatment service in residential settings, and this results in high numbers of call outs.
“Numbers of rats and mice rose during the pandemic, when far fewer people were out and about in public, business premises were shut and pest control services were reduced during the successive lockdowns. There may also have been more sightings because the animals were emboldened by the reduced human activity and widened the areas in which they searched for food while people were at home more and saw them in gardens etc.
“Our team continues to tackle the issue on a daily basis by responding to reports. We’d urge everyone to help keep vermin numbers in check by not dropping litter or putting food out for wildlife like foxes as this can attract rats and other pests. The more food that is available, the more robust the population will become and the more successfully they will breed.”
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