Shropshire Council has served redundancy notices to its pest control team, as the local authority has ended its pest control service to residents, in an attempt to save costs.
The pest controllers were told they no longer had jobs on Thursday, following a 45-day consultation period.
The council revealed in June that it was talking to its staff over the future of the department and the four pest controllers employed by the authority.
One of the pest controllers who was made redundant on Thursday, but does not want to be named, told the Shropshire Star: “We went in for a meeting on Thursday and we were given our redundancy notices and told that from next week there will be no more pest control service.
“We will still be undertaking those jobs that are booked in but from next week that will be it.
“It is a shame. We are all professional pest controllers and some of us have been here 20 years.”
The council service, which dealt with a large variety of pests including rats, mice, ants, bed bugs, and wasps, charged £35 for a call-out.
Shropshire Council was called out to deal with 3,711 rat infestations between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, there were 1,330 rat-related call-outs – 247 more than 2021.
The council is looking to make savings across the board after it was revealed that it has set a target of saving £51.4 million to deliver a balanced budget for 2023/24.