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There was an increase also in the number of inspections of properties for which Improvement
Grant was claimed, and a certain amount of house to house visiting to bring the housing
records a little more up-to-date was carried out when possible.
It will be seen also that the figure under the heading of Atmospheric Pollution inspections
was greatly increased. That was only to be expected since the operations of the Clean Air Act
had begun to come into force, and preparations were being made for the declaration of the
first Smoke Control Area. Also the publicity consequent upon the Clean Air Act made the
public more " smoke " conscious and many more complaints of dark smoke emissions from
factory premises were received in the department and investigated.
Market
There is a market, part open, part covered, in the High Street where a weekly horse and
cattle sale is held on Wednesdays and a general sale of market produce and goods is held on
Saturdays. Special attention needs to be paid to the hygienic provisions and maintenance
here.
In addition, travelling fairs and circuses spend periods in the Borough, three to four
times a year, and require supervision.
School Sanitation
Five visits were paid to schools during the year. As co-operation between the Education
Department, Schools and Public Health Department staffs is excellent, these visits are usually
made following requests from the Education Officer or School Head Teacher, and are usually
because of emergency sanitary defects.
Information was received from the Divisional Education Officer that no major works on
school sanitation were undertaken during 1958.
Eradication of Bed Bugs
Statistics for the year:—
(a) Number of Council houses
(1) found to be infested 6
(2) disinfested during the year 6
(b) Number of other houses Total 14
(1) found to be infested 8
(2) disinfested during the year 8
Canal Boats
No work was necessary on canal boat inspection during the year— the main docks for
the boats on the Grand Union Canal are in the two neighbouring boroughs, so that routine
inspections are carried out there while the boats are stationary.
Mortuary and Post-Mortem Room
The mortuary, situated in Havelock Road, provides adequate accommodation for the
Borough. No bodies were deposited in the mortuary during the year. Two hundred and
three bodies were deposited in the Mortuary at Acton for post-mortem purposes and
coroner's inquest if necessary.
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