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Author Archive | Ratman

A dead mouse

Amazing value every day – but the dead mouse is taking the Mickey

In August 2016, Poundland was fined over £33,000 after inspectors found rodent droppings and food containers soaked in urine at a branch in Luton. Subsequent to allegations of mouse droppings and other rodent activity, Luton Council’s food safety team visited the store at Luton Retail Park and found poor standards of housekeeping and problems with […]

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Asda mice and flies

When you save money, rodents can live better

Who would have thought that Asda, motto Save money. Live better, would allow one of their distributors to store food in an environment where rodents are running riot. And flies too. Maybe they intended to save money on pest control and it cost them dearly. Well, that was the findings by food safety inspectors after […]

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pot of gold £240K

When does 99p equal £240,000?

Some things don’t just don’t add up. Like how many 99ps in £240,000. Because if you knew the answer to that, you might be able to smell the rat that’s going to cost you a quarter of a million pounds (near enough). Ok, so the 99p is a 99p shop and the £240K is made […]

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Building in a very poor state

Landlords must protect their tenants from pests

A council gave a landlord sufficient warning about an uncapped sewer that allowed rats to lodge at the property as well as dangerous wiring. After doing nothing, the council acted and fined the landlord £14,000. The council in question (Wolverhampton), as most councils do, wanted to ensure that the safety of residents is upheld and […]

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A rat relaxing in a cup of coffee

Rats in the kitchen could lead to your UB40

Although the unemployment benefit form UB40 has changed, if you allow a bad enough rat infestation in your kitchen, you may get fined a very large amount that may adversely affect your livelihood. Take a look at the news item about a hotel in Hampshire that was fined a wopping £20,000 after preparing food in […]

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Cockroaches in a can

A better class of cockroach

Depending what news you read, pests are never out of the news. Now the BBC has written a magazine article on their website about cockroaches – painting them as less than the scourge that they are – to us anyway. If you found us, you’re probably interested in getting rid of cockroaches, not praising them. […]

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