The Council provides a service to domestic, commercial, industrial and food premises. Free advice is given regarding infestations of ants, bed bugs, beetles, bees, cockroaches, earwigs, fleas, flies, insects, moles, mice, pigeons, rabbits, rats, silverfish, squirrels, wasps and woodlice.
No obligation surveys are carried out for commercial, industrial and food premises with a view to providing estimates for treatments to be carried out on a contractual basis and also for the fitting of electronic fly killers and pest proofing measures.
Bedbugs and cockroaches in domestic properties are all dealt with free of charge by the pest control team.
For other pests (with the exception of moles and squirrels and rats), the charges shown below apply.
Some treatments may be carried out at reduced rates in cases where customers are in receipt of a "means tested benefit". These are detailed below.
| Dwellings and Houses - Mice & Insects |
| During normal working hours | £42.00 |
| Out of hours and Saturdays | £62.00 |
| Sundays and Bank Holidays | £80.00 |
| For customers in receipt of a means tested benefit |
| For the treatment of pests and public health significance during normal working hours (excludes microgen treatments) | £19.00 |
| For OAP's in receipt of the State Pension and one of the means tested benefits as specified as below. | £8.00 |
| Commercial Premises per hour |
| Normal working hours | £56.00 |
| Out of hours and Saturdays | £69.00 |
| Sundays and Bank Holidays | £80.00 |
Rats inside domestic properties as specified below are dealt with free of charge:
| Control of Rats |
| Rats inside domestic premises including loft spaces and integral garages | Free |
| Standard rate (for rats outside of the living area) eg. in gardens, outbuildings, sheds and garages. | £10.00 |
| OAP and Benefit Customers (in receipt of qualifying benefits as specified below) | Free |
Please note that:
Where it transpires that the infestation is outside the property then a charge of £10.00 will apply to all non benefit customers.
If the infestation transpires to be mice not rats then the following charges will be applicable:
| Dwellings and Houses – Mice |
| During normal working hours | £41.00 |
| Out of hours and Saturdays | £62.00 |
| Sundays and Bank Holiday | £80.00 |
Rats inside/outside in relation to commercial properties are charged as follows:
| Rats inside and outside commercial properties |
| During normal working hours | £56.00 |
| Out of hours and Saturdays | £69.00 |
| Sundays and Bank Holiday | £80.00 |
To pay a reduced amount as shown above, you must be in receipt of one of the following:
- Income Support
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Benefit (not single person)
- Job Seekers Allowance
- Pension Credit
If you are an OAP who is in receipt of the State Pension only, you DO NOT qualify for the reduced rate. However, if you are an OAP who is in receipt of both State Pension AND one of the benefits listed above, you receive a further reduced rate as mentioned above.
If you are unavailable for an appointment then you need to contact the Customer Services Contact Centre on 01302 736000 before the appointment time and you will be given a reference number and should be able to rearrange the appointment. If you do this you won't incur a charge, however, if you advise the pest control operative when they arrive that they are no longer required or a Pest Control Operative has made 3 visits and not been able to contact you, the customer, you will be charged as follows:
| Cancelled visits in normal working hours |
| Domestic Standard Rate | £29.00 |
| Benefits | £19.00 |
| Benefits and Pensions | £8.00 |
| Out of hours and Saturdays | £62.00 |
| Sundays and Bank Holidays | £80.00 |
The length of wait varies depending on the season. We normally give a time scale of between one and five working days, but in high season, this can rise to ten days. However, rats inside the property should be dealt with the same day, as should contained dogs.
Someone must be in the house when our pest control operatives call. This is so they are aware of the treatment that has taken place and, in the case of rats or mice, where bait is laid. Following treatment, properties can safely be occupied, as long as instructions given by the operative carrying out the treatment are observed.
For ants, fleas, bed-bugs etc, it takes approximately two weeks for the spray to take effect. You should not clean the area once sprayed as this may cancel out the effect of the treatment. Elimination of bees and wasps should be complete within a couple of days.
The treatment is guaranteed for four weeks from pest control visiting. Sprays should be given time to take effect, but if the problem persists an operative can revisit for no additional charge.
Doncaster Council has details of several local bee-keepers who may be interested in collecting swarms of bees for their own benefit. Please ring 01302 736000 for more details.
Treatments of moles, feral pigeons and squirrels in domestic properties are charged at the following rates for all properties:
| Control of Moles, Feral Pigeons & Squirrels in domestic and commercial properties (per hour) |
| During normal working hours | £56.00 |
| Out of hours and Saturdays | £69.00 |
| Sundays and Bank Holidays | £80.00 |
If you find yourself with an infestation of an unidentified pest, you should bring a sample in a jar to Council House reception. On the jar should be a label with your name, address, and contact details on it. If our Pest Control department cannot recognize it, the sample will be sent to KillGerm for identification and this process can take around two weeks.
The charge for this service is £15.00
If we receive a report of a roaming dog, we will log it and when our dog wardens are in the area they will look around to see if they can find it. If the owner’s details are known, a letter can be sent out to the property warning them to keep a tighter control on their animal. In cases where the dog appears aggressive or is causing a nuisance, one of our dog wardens can visit the owner personally to advise them on their responsibility as a dog owner.
If you have found a dog and contained it, a dog warden will pick up the animal during working hours. All dogs are taken to the Council's holding kennels at Mount Pleasant Kennels, Wakefield Road, Hampole, Doncaster (telephone 01302 722748) and there is a charge of £31.00 for owners to reclaim them plus all fees incurred for the dogs care and kennelling. This is all payable to the kennels. If not reclaimed, the dogs will be re-homed.
Out of working hours you need to telephone 01302 341628 for further advice.
If you have lost your dog, and you report it to us, we can log it on the system so it can be matched against any dogs that have been found. It may be useful to ring Mount Pleasant Kennels on 01302 722748 to see if the dog has been picked up and taken there. If you want to reclaim your dog from Hampole there will be a charge of £31.00 plus fees incurred for the dogs care and kennelling. This is all payable to the kennels. The Council unfortunately does not have the resources to go out especially to look for lost dogs.
Noise caused by dogs barking is classed as a Public Health issue. The Public Health team within Environmental Health should be contacted on (01302) 737573.
The Pest Control team does visit businesses, and charges the commercial rate per hour as below, for ALL pests unless the business has a Pest Control contract with the Council.
| Commercial Properties General Charges (per hour) |
| During normal working hours | £56.00 |
| Out of hours and Saturdays | £69.00 |
| Sundays and Bank Holidays | £80.00 |
A preliminary enquiry should be logged with Customer Services on 01302 736000. They will pass it to Pest Control and the Pest Control supervisor will come out to assess the business and calculate the cost accordingly. The annual charge is extremely variable depending on the size of the business, surrounding area etc. but a quote will be given after the assessment visit.
Lost and Stray Dogs
