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Notices were served under the Public Health Act, 1936, and the
defects remedied.
Calls were made as and when necessary on the services of the
Borough Engineer and Planning Officer's staff to enter sewers
during colour-tests or in the tracing of disused drains and also to
the lifting of paving to locate sources of infestation; these services
were readily available.
Occupiers of business premises and also householders readily
report any known or suspected infestation, and the value of routine
investigation made in these properties is emphasised by the fact that
it is rare to find occupiers tolerating infestation after being made
aware of the service available under the Rodent Control scheme.
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949
Rats and mice are notorious not only for the wholesale destruction
and fouling of foodstuffs and for the structural damage they
cause to buildings, but also for their part in the spread of disease.
Leptospirosis (Weil's disease) is primarily a disease of rats and is one
which can be fatal to man. The disease is transmitted by means of
food, dust, mud, slime and water which has been contaminated by
urine or faeces from infected rats. Efficient rodent control is the first
and most important defence against this type of disease.
The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949, has placed the
onus for the destruction of these pests on Local Authorities and
makes obligatory the notification to these authorities by occupiers of
any rodent infestation. It has not been found necessary during the
year to take legal action to enforce the provisions of the Act.
The following report, the form of which has now been con
siderably reduced, was submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food, for the year ended 31st December, 1966:—

Sewers
4. Were any sewers infested by rats during the year?—Yes—One
Surface Properties and Sewers
5. Any other points of interest? None