Postcode breakdown shows number of rat sightings in Wakefield district
The local authority received nearly 6,000 reports of vermin between 2014 and 2017, results of a Freedom of Information request revealed.
A postcode breakdown showed that WF2, which covers much of the western half of the city of Wakefield, was the most commonly visited area by pest control.
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Hide AdPupils ordered home from school on first day back over uniform rowWF4, which stretches from Flockton Moor in the west to Crofton in the east, the city centre and the WF9 Hemsworth and South Emsall area also saw high numbers of reports.
There was no consistent rise or fall in the number of sightings reported to the council year on year.
Dorothy Atkinson, who has helped run Lofthouse-based Atkinson Pest Control for 20 years, says that vermin numbers have remained steady over the past two decades because conditions are ripe for them to reproduce.
She said: “People are still throwing takeaways and food waste down on the ground – they don’t put it in the litter bins – and that’s how rats live.
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Hide Ad“That doesn’t mean that you’ve more chance of seeing one if you live near a clutch of takeaways because people throw it everywhere. They throw it out of car windows, down country lanes and on the streets.
“It’s the culture of the people unfortunately.”
Over 140 drivers clocked speeding on 30mph roads in WakefieldThere is the old adage that in the UK you are never more than six feet away from a rat, which Mrs Atkinson believes is correct.
She said: “It is true because they are in the sewers, and you’re never far away from a sewer. That’s where they breed.”
In numbers
Reports of rats/vermin made to the council by year:
2014 – 1,606
2015 – 1,333
2016 – 1,685
2017 – 1,320
Most common area for callouts by postcode between 2014 and 2017:
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Hide AdWF2 (city centre and west Wakefield stretching from Carr Gate to Walton) – 976
WF4 (south Wakefield stretching from Flockton Moor to east of Crofton) – 827
WF1 (city centre and eastern Wakefield) – 785
WF9 (Hemsworth and South Emsall) – 771
WF8 (Pontefract) – 594
WF10 (Castleford) – 503
WF5 (Ossett) – 409
WF7 (Featherstone) – 349
WF6 (Normanton) – 342
WF3 (Lofthouse and Stanley) – 210
WF11 (Knottingley) – 154