A few weeks ago, we were called to a property in Thatcham, Newbury, Berkshire to assess the problems they had been having with pigeons fouling the footpath in the High Street. Anybody who knows Thatcham will tell you the pigeon problem has increased substantially over the last few years – but now it was time to sort the problem out.
Luckily, the High Street is a one way system, so Traffic Management during the work was pretty simple – we just needed to close off a footpath for a bit, and make sure the traffic slowed to an acceptable level for safety whilst we worked at height in a cherry picker. One thing we insist on with a job like this, it must be done with a suitable MEWP (Mobile Elevated Working Platform) and should never be attempted with ladders. The cost is not huge but from a staff safety and risk mitigation viewpoint, it just has to be a MEWP.
The job entailed cleaning out the gutters and drains, which had been blocked for quite some time, fit gutter spikes to stop the pigeons excreting on the pavement at the front of the building, then in the alleyway, cleaning up the faeces on the path and walls, then fitting suitable bird spikes on the ledges to stop birds doing the same – or worse still nesting on the ledges. Finally, we needed to place more spikes on the mid-level ledges, again to discourage nesting.
After a bit of a slow start with the MEWP’s being delivered with the wrong keys, we soon did the mandatory safety checks and were off. The cherry picker we used today was a Nifty 120T, which gave us more than enough height, good outreach and most of all it allowed us to move this lightweight machine to exactly where we needed it in the alleyway – the Nifty 120T can fit between the 1.5mt wide bollards in the alleyway, giving us total flexibility. This class of machine requires a different licence to operate than the normal cherry picker – an IPAF 1b certificate, which of course our guys hold.
The job went smoothly and was completed on time as promised, causing the minimum amount of disruption to the alleyway and footpath. As with all these jobs, planning and communication is vital so the job is done safely and quickly.
Just about everybody we spoke to commented on the pigeon problem, so if you also have a problem with pigeons in Thatcham or Newbury, call Rapid Pest control now for help and advice on options available to you.
Leave A Comment