Something’s bugging them in Broad Green

8:30am Wednesday 14th May 2008

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Rats, mice, bedbugs and cockroaches seem to be swarming over Broad Green as the ward has put in the most calls to the council to deal with pests over the past two years.

The council was called out 356 times to the ward from January 2007 to March 2008. Norbury was the second worst off, with residents calling the council out 337 times.

“The panic usually starts in mid-July once the kids break up from school and mums start worrying about little Jimmy."

Richard Homatas

Norbury had the highest instances of problems with rats in gardens, while Broad Green swept the board with all other types of pests.

The only other exception was Kenley - which has had the highest instances of wasp nests.

Pest exterminator Richard Homatas, who has been running his family business AllPest in Croydon since 1973, said August and July were the peak months for wasp callouts.

"At the moment there are only a few wasps around, the nests are quite small.

"The panic usually starts in mid-July once the kids break up from school and mums start worrying about little Jimmy.

"It is the dry weather it makes wasps irritable and they go looking for moisture. The peak months are August, July, September, October and then June," he said.

Mr Homatas said the worst pest problem was bed bugs, which were fast becoming a major headache in the borough.

Broad Green has had 56 callouts for bed bugs in the past two years, almost double the next highest instance - 28 for Selhurst.

Pauline Chase, a mum of five from New Addington, knows just how tenacious the bugs can be.

The 32-year-old had to throw out all her new furniture, children's clothes and toys after an army of the critters invaded her house in February.

She and her daughters, the youngest of whom was only three months old, were forced to sleep on the floor in their front room after an exterminator failed to get rid of them despite being called out four times.

Mr Homatas said if you had an invasion of bed bugs the best thing to do was "get out".

He said: "They really are the worst problem you can have.

"It's normally self-inflicted by people bringing them back with them from holiday. They are often a problem when people are moving. If your bed is bad with bugs you have to chuck it."