PEST control officers employed by North Lincolnshire Council are winning the battle against rodents.

For the number of calls from households under attack in North Lincolnshire is on target to be the lowest in five years.

Stephen Coulman, the environmental health manager for communities, revealed between April 1 last year and March 10, there had been 1,248 calls – down from 1,392 on the previous year and much lower than the 2007-08 peak of 1,812.

Rats accounted for more than half of the cries for help – but the level was down on 2008-09.

The extended cold winter snap is thought to be contributing to the decline.

Mr Coulman said: "There is no exact science to pest control, but last summer was not particularly good and the number of ants and wasps were not as high as we would normally expect.

"We have also had a hard winter and it's the cold that tends to kill of the rats and the mice.

"If we have a good summer, we may well see an increase in the non-public health pests such as ants and wasps.

"We will be keeping an eye out for any changes in the number of public health pests such as rats."

However, the bad news for squeamish residents is that figures for 2009-2010 show when compared with 2008-09 there have been rises in reports of fleas (up from 65 to 77), bees (up from four to 21), wasps (up from 211 to 299), flies (10), maggots (three) and cockroaches (four).

Other pests in the council's firing line include bedbugs, mice, carpet beetles, pigeons, moles, squirrels and rabbits.

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