RATS and other pests may be dealt with for free in Malvern if plans proposed by councillors are approved.

Cllr Kaleem Aksar raised a notice of motion calling for vulnerable Malvern Hills residents to receive their pest control for free after discovering people in the town were paying when those living in other districts didn't.

Households in Malvern Hills receiving financial support from the council and government currently have no source of support for the costs of pest control.

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This is in contrast to other Worcestershire districts, such as Bromsgrove and Wychavon, where financial support for residents on qualifying benefits is provided.

Cllr Aksar said: “This motion came about from work I was doing with a man in my ward who approached me who is vulnerable, he has dementia. He has a rat problem, so he did what we all would do, and went to the Worcestershire Regulatory Services website”

When looking, it was discovered each Worcestershire district has a slightly different way of dealing with issues like this, with Malvern Hills residents having to pay.

Speaking at the full meeting of Malvern Hills District Council, Cllr Aksar added: “If he were to cross the Severn, he would get it for free as he qualifies for the specific benefits. Obviously we are all different councils and are all unique, but there are some policy decisions and some things we can do as a council which are particularly important to preventing vulnerable people from having to borrow money to pay for pest control services to make his house a safe place to live. These are fundamental things we need to do in our lives and some people don’t have the financial means to access these services.”

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The Prevention of Damage by a Pests Act 1949 determines that, “It shall be the duty of every local authority to take such steps as may be necessary to secure so far as practicable that their district is kept free from rats and mice.”

Most landlords, including social landlords and Housing Associations, expect their tenants to be responsible for removing pests from their property in their tenancy agreements. Council chairman Cllr Dean Clarke used the chair’s discretion to refer it to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which next meets on January 12 next year.