Pest Control Wandle Park

Pest Control in Wandle Park

Wandle Park is the area around the park of the same name in Croydon, where the River Wandle emerges from its underground culvert and flows through restored wetland and parkland. The neighbourhood is residential, sitting between Waddon and the town centre, with a mix of Victorian terraces, inter-war semis and post-war flats. The river is the big factor when it comes to pests. Wherever there is water and bankside vegetation, rats follow and the Wandle corridor provides both. Rat activity is highest in the streets that back onto the park and the river channel, but the drainage network beneath the wider area connects everything underground. Cracked or collapsed sewer pipes give rats a route from the river system into properties that are streets away from the water.

The older housing around Wandle Park has the typical vulnerabilities of its age. Mice get in through gaps around pipes, under doors and through damaged air bricks. In the terraced rows, they move between houses through shared cavity walls, which means one household's problem quickly becomes a street-wide issue if it is not addressed. The Victorian and Edwardian houses nearest the park tend to have cellars or sub-floor voids that give mice extra space to nest undisturbed. We see a steady flow of mouse jobs across this part of Croydon throughout the year.

The park itself is a valuable green space, but it also supports urban wildlife that can become a nuisance. Foxes den in the park and carry fleas into surrounding gardens. Flea treatments are a regular request from homes with pets in the streets around the park. Wasps nest in the roof spaces and garden sheds of the older housing and wasp removal is common through the summer months. The combination of river, green space and aging housing makes pest management a constant in this corner of Croydon.