Pest control in Enfield

What draws pests to homes in Enfield?

Enfield has three quite different landscapes within one postcode area. EN1 takes in Enfield Town and Bush Hill Park, where Edwardian terraces give way to the 1930s semis that line road after road. EN2 is the greener north and west around Enfield Chase, Clay Hill and Forty Hill, with large gardens running up to Trent Park, Hilly Fields and Whitewebbs. EN3 follows the Lee Valley: Ponders End, Enfield Highway, Enfield Wash and Enfield Lock, with terraced streets, post-war estates and the industrial land of Brimsdown between the railway and the Lee Navigation.

Each brings its own visitors. Rats follow the water and the industry in the east, mice and wasps find the lofts and soffits of the interwar semis, and the big gardens of the north bring wasp nests in the ground and rodents in compost heaps and sheds.

Why do rats turn up so often near the Lea?

The Lee Navigation, the flood relief channel, the reservoirs and the Brimsdown industrial estates give rats what they need: water, cover and food waste. Homes in Enfield Lock, in Enfield Island Village on the former Royal Small Arms Factory site, and in the streets off Hertford Road back onto exactly this ground. Allotments and the towpath add to it. If rats are getting into a garden in EN3, a controller looks at what is attracting them, such as bird food, chicken runs, compost and gaps under decking, and at the drains, because the drain network is how rats move between the industrial land and the houses.

What is particular about the 1930s semis?

The semis of Bush Hill Park, Enfield Town, Enfield Highway and the roads off the Cambridge Road share a construction: timber soffits and fascias, loft vents, cavity walls and a loft that is rarely visited. Wasps nest in the soffits and the loft, mice get in where the gas or waste pipe enters the kitchen, and the lofts hold the stored clothing where moths flourish. Later additions, such as a side extension or a conservatory, create new gaps where the two structures meet. A controller usually walks round the outside of the house first, looking at those junctions, before anything is treated.

Are there wasps and bees in the big gardens of EN2?

The gardens of Enfield Chase, Clay Hill and Forty Hill, and the edges of Trent Park and Whitewebbs, carry a lot of wasp nests in the ground, in old tree stumps, in bird boxes and under sheds. They also carry honey bee swarms in May and June. Honey bees are not pests: contact a local beekeeper or the British Beekeepers Association swarm list rather than asking for treatment. Bats roost in older houses and outbuildings around Forty Hill and Bulls Cross, and bats and their roosts are legally protected. Nobody may disturb them, so if you suspect bats in the loft, the right call is to the Bat Conservation Trust helpline, not a pest controller.

What about the New River?

The New River, the seventeenth-century channel that still carries water to London, runs through Enfield Town Park and on past Bush Hill Park towards Winchmore Hill. Its banks are managed, but any watercourse through a residential area supports a steady rat population that spreads into nearby gardens when food is available. Homes backing onto the New River or close to Town Park are worth checking for burrows under sheds and for gnawed compost bins.

Which council covers Enfield?

All three postcode districts are in the London Borough of Enfield. The occupier of a home with a substantial number of rats or mice must notify the council under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949. Check Enfield Council's website for whether it offers a treatment service and on what terms. An enquiry here is separate from that.

What helps with an Enfield enquiry?

• where in the home or garden the signs are, and what you have seen
• whether the property backs onto water, a railway, an industrial estate or allotments
• the age and type of the home, and whether there is a loft or cellar
• your postcode and a phone number you answer