Health inspectors called to Crawley's RM sorting office

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Health inspectors called to Crawley's Royal Mail sorting office after rat infestation

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AN ENVIRONMENTAL health inspector had to be called to Crawley's Royal Mail sorting office after a rat infestation.

A source at Gatwick Mail Centre, in James Watt Way, contacted the Crawley News, to reveal that an area outside the building used for storing rubbish had become "overrun" with rats and mice.

According to the source, the rodents had got into rubbish stored on metal crates.

Then, once the waste was disposed of, the crates had Crawley residents' post placed in them.

The source said: "I have brought the issue up because of the infections that can be caused by rat and mice faeces and urine, and a lot of people's mail had been sitting on that.

"I wouldn't want it. I think it's disgusting. I wash my hands after I've opened my post because of what I know. Most people don't know what I know.

"Most people open their letters and don't wash their hands. I feel like the Royal Mail should be made accountable for this."

The source added that the waste started to build up around May, when rubbish collections from the centre went from once a day to twice a week.

They claim that rubbish had been stored outside – sometimes on up to 13 metal crates – because the centre "only had one bin" for the around 500 people who work there.

The rubbish was mainly workers' food waste, with some packaging from post and parcels.

A Crawley Borough Council spokeswoman confirmed that an environmental health inspector had visited Gatwick Mail Centre at the end of November because of a "potential pest problem".

She added that since the visit the sorting office had put in place measures to deal with waste more effectively.

The spokeswoman said: "An officer from environmental health visited the site on November 25 and checked over the facilities for any issues.

"Since then more control measures have been put in place to deal with waste and its removal from site, to keep the area clean and tidy. They have also ensured measures have been put in place to control any pest problems."

Royal Mail spokeswoman Sally Hopkins insisted that any containers that had contained waste would have been washed thoroughly before having mail placed on them.

She added: "Royal Mail works with our waste management company to ensure we have adequate facilities for the disposal of waste – this includes regular waste collections.

"We also have dedicated equipment to transport waste around our site, which is separate from the containers we use to move mail around.

"In the event of Royal Mail containers being used for the temporary storage of waste, these would be thoroughly cleaned before being used for the transportation of mail.

"There would be no risk that any customers' mail would be contaminated by any waste."

[glenfiddich]

creepy crawleys

[P13]

Apparently the rats were seen huddled around the coffee machine

[ted_e_bear]

An eyewitness reported that the biggest rat had his own lair/office whilst some smaller ones shared one, also there seemed to be a small group of hangers on that appeared to be wearing matching uniforms !

[axeman]

yes they carry weils or leptospirosis and can lead to death (extreme) HSE web site has all relevant info

And the containers should be thoroughly disinfected to neutralise any probability of cross infection from any erroneous bacteria whether dedicated or not

[GT750rider]

Are there still pigeons in the roof space above where the spare york sleeves are stored at Swindon MC ? Apparently they can carry meningitis, listeria, encephalitis and e. coli. I know when I went there to pick up some sleeves a lot of them had pigeon droppings on them. If I'd had the time I would have found a H+S rep.

[adb2aber]

Are there still pigeons in the roof space above where the spare york sleeves are stored at Swindon MC ? Apparently they can carry meningitis, listeria, encephalitis and e. coli. I know when I went there to pick up some sleeves a lot of them had pigeon droppings on them. If I'd had the time I would have found a H+S rep.

There's pigeons in the sorting hall every year, let alone in the storage areas. Often seen flying from girder to girder, nesting, crapping on the floor and flying through all the wide open doors...

[DB1100]

All this panic about rat droppings and what not,I've lost count of the time 's I've got birdshite on my hands from opening garden gate's and the filth in some of the vans has got to be worse than any of the offerings out of a rats tea towel holder.

[GT750rider]

Are there still pigeons in the roof space above where the spare york sleeves are stored at Swindon MC ? Apparently they can carry meningitis, listeria, encephalitis and e. coli. I know when I went there to pick up some sleeves a lot of them had pigeon droppings on them. If I'd had the time I would have found a H+S rep.

There's pigeons in the sorting hall every year, let alone in the storage areas. Often seen flying from girder to girder, nesting, crapping on the floor and flying through all the wide open doors...

So is anything done about it ?