The number of call-outs to deal with rats and mice in Neath Port Talbot have dropped dramatically since the local authority tripled its fees for pest control, new figures reveal.
In April 2019, pest control charges increased from £40 to £120 when dealing with rats, mice, cockroaches and bedbugs.
Meanwhile, for ants, wasps and fleas, the fees jumped from £40 to £65.
A report going that went to councillors, showed that in the first six months of the price hike there was the number of requests made to pest control services halved.
From April to September 2019, there were 348 service requests compared to 704 requests for the same period the previous year.
Due to the fee increase, the level of income for the service was the same – around £30,000 for each six month period.
In the report going before the streetscene and engineering scrutiny committee, officers said the pest control service was a non-statutory function of the local authority which had previously been “significantly subsidised”.
They said the price increase meant the service was now expected to break even, helping to “secure the service” for the future.
