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45
In addition to the inspections recorded above, 399 visits were made
to premises of outworkers, i.e., persons undertaking at home, work sent
out from factories or business premises.
Shops.
During the year 1,803 visits were made to shops in the district by the
Shops Acts Inspector. As a result, 114 contraventions of the Acts in
respect of the exhibiting of notices and the keeping of records were noted
and dealt with. Sixty-one food shops were cleansed and redecorated,
and 143 requests for other repairs and improvements were made and
complied with.
Sixteen contraventions about the hours of closing were noted.
Fourteen of these were first offences and warning letters were sent to the
persons concerned; and on the instructions of the Public Health Committee
final warning letters were sent to the other two offenders.
In addition, two cases were found where assistants were being
employed on their weekly half-holiday and in one instance a shopkeeper
had to be warned for failing to close his shop on the day of the weekly
holiday. The Shops Acts on the 31st December applied to 2,230 shops
in the district, an increase of 23 over the number appearing on the register
at the 31st December, 1947.
Rat Infestation.
During the year two surveys were made of the sewers in the district
to ascertain whether they were rat infested. Though 820 manholes were
baited, no serious infestation was found.
Regular treatment of the Council's refuse tips was also carried out
and the watercourses in the district dealt with. No serious infestations
were encountered during the course of this work though rats were found
present along considerable stretches of the River Pinn. The nature of
the land through which this watercourse flows makes complete eradication
difficult and it is now receiving periodical attention at frequent
intervals.
Most of the 766 surveys made during the year as a result of observations
or complaints dealt with overgrown gardens, chickens or accumulations
of waste matter. Householders who keep pountry would render a
real service to the community if, when erecting chicken runs, they would
ensure that the buildings are kept well above ground level and the run
itself is ratproofed. Householders can also help to prevent infestations
occurring by not retaining on premises any unnecessary debris or allowing
gardens to become overgrown.
From the administrative side the most important event of the year
was the introduction by the Council during August of a free rat-destruction
service for private dwellings. A charge is still made for any work carried
out on factory, business or commercial premises.
Smoke.
Combustion of bituminous coal, the common domestic industrial
fuel of Great Britain, results in three million tons of solid matter (tar, oil
particles, soot) and five million tons of sulphur dioxide and various other
products of partial combustion, including methane and carbon monoxide