[Report 1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Aylesbury Borough.

  • Aylesbury (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1964
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Aylesbury Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    amount recovered from work carried out at business premises again showed a slight decrease, while the free service to private houses was continued. In my last Report I referred to the complaints received of rats in the roof space of new properties, and indicated that this was probably due to rats being shut into the house during construction. During the year complaints of this nature have increased and have been reecived not only from newly completed houses. Investiga- tions have proved that this type of infestation is caused by the modem practice of connecting rainwater downpipes directly to the surface water drains without the provision of a gully at the foot of the rainwater down pipe. Since surface water drainage is ultimately connected in every case to a water course, this system pro- vides direct connection for rats in the water course to the gutters of houses, and thence through any small gap which may be left on the verge into the roof space Methods of combating this type of infestation have been discussed with the Borough Architect and Engineer and Surveyor, and although not an ideal solution, it does appear that in order to eliminate this nuisance it will be necessary to put some from of trap or flap valve into the surface water system. Work in connection with the destruction of wasps nests varies greatly from year to year, and is, as stated previously, mainly dependant on weather conditions. Only 17 nests were destroyed compared with 77 in the previous year. Our clean record with regard to bed bug infestation was again spoiled, one report being received and dealt with during the year. Thirty-two visits in regard to pest control were made during the year, but these, in addition to the bug infestation mentioned above, included visits in connec- tion with infestations of ants, cockroaches and similar insects. A summary of the work carried out under this Act during the year is appended : — Private Premises treated 202 (157) Business Premises treated 122 (94) Local Authority Premises treated 26 (16) Rat bodies found 637 (489) Mouse bodies found 261 (174) Points laid — Private Premises ... 642 (447) Points laid — Business Premises 593 (457) Points laid — Local Authority Premises 162 (156) Manholes treated 82 (108) Visits made by Public Health Inspectors 117 (64) Wasps Nests destroyed ... ... 17 (77) FACTORIES ACT, 1937 AND 1948 Mechanical factories on register requiring visiting 110 (100) Non-mechanical factories on register requiring (18) visiting 16 Visits paid to factories 68 (27)
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