Our Pest Control Officers will deal with pests that are harmful to public health and well-being. All our staff are fully qualified and hold the Royal Society of Health in Pest Control or the British Pest Control Association certificates. The Council is committed to providing excellent public services, and the Pest Control Service has been independantly assessed and certified as meeting  the  Government's Customer Excellence Standard.

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Request for Service | Free Service | Other Services | Domestic Treatments | Business Customers | How to Pay | Customer Service | Customer Satisfaction | Insect Identification | Contact

To Make a Request for Service

Pest Control services can be arranged by telephoning during normal working hours, where our staff will provide advice and make an appointment for a visit to give further advice, or carry out a treatment if you wish. Alternatively you can contact us by e-mail, by person at any of our Customer Service Points in Kirkby in Ashfield, Sutton in Ashfield or Hucknall or by writing into any of the three Council Offices mentioned above.

All our staff are fully trained, experienced and use the latest equipment. Discretion is assured as we use unmarked vans.

Make a Request For Service

Free Service

We provide a free domestic service for pests that may carry diseases which can be transmitted to humans. Free domestic treatments are provided for rats inside or outside of the home, mice inside the home and cockroaches.

Regardless of your pest problem, advice is always free, whether this is over the phone, by email or by a visiting pest control officer, so please do not hesitate to contact us, whatever your pest problem is.

Our pest control team are all fully qualified professionals who enjoy their work, are people orientated and non judgmental – regardless of your situation, our pest control officers really have "seen it all before", so please do not be put off contacting us.

Other Services

We also carry out treatments for many other pests, including ants, wasps, bees (we have arrangements with local bee keepers to remove bees, without harming them wherever possible), fleas, bedbugs, moles, squirrels, and many other insect pests. These treatments are not "one off" visits; we will return to carry out one additional re-treatment wherever necessary at no further cost, in the case of bedbugs a further visit is always made, and treatment applied for no extra cost, if necessary.  If further treatments (more than a total of two) are required, further payment is requested. As part of a bed bug treatment, we can also provide mattress covers which contain a bed bug eradication system and dust mite barrier as well as providing allergy protection against many allergens, at cost price. The table below summarises our charges.

Domestic Treatments

The following table gives further details of pests that we treat and our charges:

* The price includes two separate treatments for bedbugs, the second treatment is usually applied around 14 days after the first. Mattress protectors are available for an extra charge, provided by the Council  at cost price.

** Other non public health significance insects and beetles pests such as ants, biscuit beetles, carpet beetles, silverfish etc may be treated at the same rate as fleas at the pest control officer's discretion, though there are no discounts in the price to those on benefits.

A £15.00 reduction is offered for anyone who is in receipt of the following benefits:-

• Income based Job Seekers Allowance (Not Contributions based)
• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit (Not Child Tax Credit)
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Benefit
• Full time Education
• Guaranteed Pension Credit (must be Guaranteed)
• On or awaiting a Government designated Training Scheme
• Dependent partner of qualifying person

How do we compare to other Local Councils?

If customers have any questions regarding the scheme, they may contact a member of our Customer Services Team on 01623 450000, e-mail customerservices@ashfield-dc.gov.uk or visit one of our Customer Services Points at Hucknall, Kirkby or Sutton.

Business Customers

Besides providing all of the services listed above, we provide pest control contracts for rat and mice control and monitoring to businesses, starting from £168.00 + VAT for 3 months and annual contracts from £207.00 + VAT. This charge also includes two free insect treatments e.g. wasps nests, fleas in an office/vehicle - valid for the period of the contract. Our services can be tailored to your needs, and our visits made at times to fit in with your business requirements.

Our annual pest control contracts are competitively priced and represent very good value and excellent service standards, and are one of the few pest control services that are certified to meet the requirements of Goverments' Customer Service Standard. The twelve month contract also includes two free treatments for insects such as wasps or fleas.

The Councils' pest conntrol officers are polite, punctual and presentable, discrete and professional they are well trained in pest control, health & safety and customer care.

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How To Pay

We operate a pre-payment system for our domestic customers in respect of insect treatments, the pest control officers cannot take payment of any kind from any customers.

The pre-payment system is simple, efficient and easy to use.

Customers can pay with major debit and credit cards over the phone, when they ring in with their pest control issue,  pay for the treatment in cash at any of our Customer Service Points,  and either through the post or by person at any of our Customer Service Points using any of the following methods:

• Cheque (with guarantee card)
• Building society cheque
• Postal order
• Or by online payment

Customers will also be able to pay for our services through our website.

How Do I Claim my Discount if in Receipt of a Relevant Benefit ?

For domestic customers, we will give you a discount of £15.00 if you receive any of the above mentioned benefits, and can provide evidence of receipt of the benefit. If you qualify for a discount because you are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, the discount can be processed over the phone, when you speak to the Councils' Customer Service Officers, otherwise proof of discount qualification, must be provided to the Councils' Cash Office staff ↑ top ↑

Customer Service

Delivering excellent customer service is very important to us and we aim to provide quality services that match our customers' needs and exceed their expectations.

Response Times (first contact with customer)

Our aim is to respond within day of receipt + 1 working day for complaints of rats inside housing, but mostly respond on the same day that the complaint is received.

All other pest complaints will be responded to promptly and in all cases within 5 working days of receipt.

In most cases, requests for service are responded to by the end of the next working day, the average response time being day of  receipt + one working day.

Our Business Plan sets service standards to respond to requests for service within target times.

• In 2011-2012 we responded to all requests for service within an average of day of receipt + one working day.
• In the same year, we responded to and treated all but three complaints of a rat inside a home within the day of receipt + one working day.

We also promise to:

• Answer telephone calls by giving the name of the person you are speaking to. Calls will be answered as quickly as possible by our Customer Services Staff and details immediately passed to the pest control section
• Arrange appointments during working hours to suit customer needs whenever possible.
• Respond to all letters from members of the public within ten working days of receipt.
• Offer advice or information on further contacts where we cannot directly deal with a problem.
• Listen to views of our users in order to constantly improve the service we provide.
• Regularly review with users the standards of service and provide details of the standards we have achieved.

Download our Customer Service Charter

Customer Satisfaction Consultation

We provide a customer satisfaction questionnaire and stamped addressed envelope to all domestic customers on completion of pest treatments. Additionally, all of our commercial contract customers have been consulted and received a customer satisfaction survey this year.

We will analyse the responses we receive, listen and act on comments to improve the service we provide.

The table below illustrates the responses received during 2011 - 2012.

Those stating 'not bad' or 'poor' were investigated and the reasons established.

Insect Identification

The Council offers a free insect identification service. If you take a sample to any of the Customer Contact Points, the Pest Control Department will identify it and contact you with details and any treatment necessary.

Contact

If you have any queries regarding our pest control service or seek advice or assistance in a pest control matter, please do not hesitate to contact us in any of the ways listed below.

Telephone: 01623 450000
Fax: 01623 457530
E-mail: pestcontrol@ashfield-dc.gov.uk

Type talk: 18001 01623 450000

Our Pest Control Service is based at:-

Ashfield District Council
Urban Road,
Kirkby-in-Ashfield,
Nottingham,
NG17 8DA

Other Ashfield District Council Customer Service Points are listed below :-

Council Offices
Watnall Road,
Hucknall NG15 7LA
Telephone: 0115 9568740
Fax: 0115 9568727

Council Offices
Fox Street,
Sutton-in-Ashfield,
NG17 1BD
Telephone: 01623 457040
Fax: 01623 457010