A free service to control rats in homes is to be introduced by Bolton Council after neighbours fell out over 'who owns the rats'.

The decision was made after the authority said that since charges were introduced for domestic pest control, there had been a ‘noticeable decline’ in requests for rodent treatments at the same time problems with rats were getting worse.

Prior to June 2020, the council provided a free of charge rodent treatment service for all domestic customers.

The Bolton News: Rat

At that time, due to budget cuts, the authority introduced a charge of £40 for treatments relating to rats and mice in homes.

The fee currently stands at £46 per booking.

The Bolton News has reported on a number of occasions of rat infestations in the borough.

This week, a report to the the cabinet member for regulatory services, Cllr Sue Haworth, outlined the arguments for a return to free pest control in homes.

It said: “Prior to June 2020, the service provided a free of charge rodent treatment service with the underlying principle behind this to look after the public health of residents.

“Following this change in policy, a noticeable decline in requests for rodent treatments relating to domestic dwellings became apparent, suggesting that demand was being influenced by the cost of the service.

“The pest control team also reported evidence of some residents using less costly methods of treatment that were ineffective when compared with industry standard methods.

"Evidence suggests that pest and vermin disproportionately affect the poorest sections of society, and the problem appears to have been exacerbated as a result of the cost ­of living crisis with fewer residents contacting the service at a time when local indicators suggest the problem is worsening.”

Last month, councillors in Bolton heard the introduction of fees had left neighbours ‘not speaking’ after rows about ‘who owns the rats’.

Speaking at the budget setting council meeting on February 14, Cllr Karen Hon, who represents the Great Lever ward, said the council had taken away a free service and people could not afford it.

She said disputes over where rats were coming from had led to division between residents.

She added: “We are having arguments between residents who are complaining about who owns the rats. People are saying ‘they’re not my rats they’re their rats’.

“When we are putting a fee on something nobody wants to take responsibility for we are creating a blame culture on who is responsible for the rats on our streets and this degrades our society. We literally have residents falling out with each other, not speaking to each other.”

Nationally, the number of social housing tenants taking complaints to the ombudsman about rats, has risen more than tenfold in the past four years, from 71 complaints in 2019/20, to 759 in 2022/23. The free rodent treatment service will only apply to rats and mice infestations affecting habitable areas.

The treatment for rats and mice will be limited to thee visits per job with all poisons being removed on the third visit.

Customers missing appointments or being out at the time of the call will be charged £46 in advance of any further treatment. The council said that once the service becomes free demand is estimated to double within the first six ­months.

They expect requests will continue to rise to a projected level of 3,000 treatments per year. Social housing landlords who call on the council pest control service will still be charged at the previous rates.

The report said an additional £110,700 funding would be needed to pay for the introduction of a universal free service.