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represented on this Committee by the Chairman of the Public Health Committee, Alderman
Mrs.A.M.M.Burrell, and the Chief Public Health Inspector. A full report of this meeting
was submitted to the November meeting of the Public Health Committee.
Some 467 complaints were received during the year concerning rodent infestation,
involving treatment by rodent operatives of 394 private houses and 75 business premises.
The total number of visits in connection with these complaints and treatment for disinfestation
amounted to 3,970.
The Council's sewers were disinfested in March and October and the Dagenham Brook
and surrounding land, a natural reservoir of rodent infestation, was treated with
hydrogen cyanide gas.
NOTE: A detailed report on the Council's responsibilities under the
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949, and of the Department
activities in this connection was given in the 1960 Annual Report.
BUSINESS PREMISES - GENERAL
A system of regular inspection of business premises situated within the Borough
has once again been the aim of the Department on the basis that early detection and
action in relation to the infringement of the many statutory provisions affecting these
premises is not only in the best interests of public health but also that much inconvehience
to persons affected is thereby avoided. This is of particular importance in
those cases where persons exposed to a nuisance caused by others may, for reasons of
their own, hesitate to complain to the Public Health Department. The Department has a
special responsibility to these people.
The number of business premises in Leyton is 2,153, comprising factories,workshops,
retail shops, catering establishments, food premises, etc., and despite staff shortages
due in the main to an ever-changing complement of Public Health Inspectors, and also
to the demands on their time of work in connection with special projects such as Slum
Clearance and Smoke Control Areas, 2,447 inspections were carried out, 130 notices were
served, and 236 new registrations and/or licences were dealt with.
Attention is drawn to the statistical section, which gives detailed information
as to the Acts, Orders and Regulations involved and the action taken.
The Fabrics (Misdescription) Act was first introduced in 1913, but became of
special significance when regulations governing the flammability of fabrics became
operative in 1959. The number of premises dealing in fabrics for which a degree of noninflammability
is claimed is steadily increasing, and the administration of these
statutes includes regular sampling of materials to ensure that the general public can
purchase flameproof clothing in the knowledge that it will comply with the tests laid
down by the British Standards Institute.
As a result of routine sampling of this nature, a child's christening dress, which
was offered for sale in the Borough with a label describing it to be of low flammability,
failed to meet the standards required by the British Standards Institute. The Council
instituted proceedings, and the case is of interest in that it not only reveals the
number of firms which may be involved in the manufacture and sale of a garment, but
that it is probably one of the first cases taken by a Local Authority under the new
regulations. The Council brought a prosecution against a retail shop for selling nylon
net and viscose taffeta fabric which did not conform to the standard of non-inflammability
prescribed by the Fabrics (Misdescription) Regulations, 1959 and the Fabrics
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