Pest Control in Durham

Durham is one of England's great historic cities, with the cathedral and castle perched on their rocky peninsula above a tight loop of the River Wear. The medieval city centre is compact and hilly, with narrow streets, old stone and brick buildings and a layout that has changed little in centuries. Below the peninsula, the river wraps around the old town through steep wooded banks and this green river gorge is the single biggest factor in rat activity across the city centre. Brown rats live along the Wear's banks, beneath the bridges and in the old stone walls that line the riverbanks and they move uphill into the city centre through the drainage system and the gaps in the ancient buildings. The medieval construction of many properties around the Market Place, Saddler Street and the Bailey means thick stone walls with internal voids that rats and mice use for shelter and movement.

Durham's large student population adds another dimension to pest control in the city. The terraced housing in Gilesgate, Crossgate, Neville's Cross and Viaduct that serves as student accommodation sees a high turnover of occupants and gaps in maintenance between lets can allow mouse problems to develop. Bed bugs are also a concern in shared rental properties, brought in on luggage and second-hand furniture and spreading between rooms before they are detected. The density of takeaway outlets and food businesses around the city centre, especially along North Road and around the Market Place, generates waste that sustains rat and mouse numbers in the surrounding streets.

Beyond the city centre, Durham's suburbs spread along the river valley through Framwellgate Moor, Newton Hall, Belmont and Gilesgate Moor. Wasp nests are common across all these areas in summer, turning up in roof voids, garden sheds and boundary walls. Wasp nest removal runs from May through to October. The green spaces along the river, the mature trees around the cathedral close and the gardens of the older residential areas all contribute to a diverse pest picture and our technicians have the local knowledge to deal with every aspect of it.