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Camden News - by RICHARD OSLEY
Published: 10 July 2008

Entrapment for cop shop mice!

Ageing buildings hit by pest infestations

THEY spend each day chasing the bad guys, but it’s not just thieves and vandals that Camden police are up against, they are also on the trail of a rather smaller pest.
Reports released to the New Journal through the Freedom of Information Act show how the borough’s flagship police station in Lamb’s Conduit Street has been hit by mice infestations several times in recent months.
On each occasion, pest controllers have had to be called in to deal with the problem – most recently in May when mice were twice proving a problem.
The reports show Camden police only began taking records of the unwelcome guests in May last year and since then have had to call for help on 23 occasions, mainly to deal with mice but sometimes to get rid of cockroaches in the kitchens, as well as “fly infestations”, ladybirds and “fleas/mites”.
Officers were quick to dismiss any possibility that Holborn’s cells were rodent-ridden and said none of the problems had been reported in the custody areas.
The station received an £8.2 million refit six years ago and is considered one of London’s top police headquarters. Its tower block enjoys panoramic views across the capital and is largely considered by staff to be a good place to work.
Other stations in the borough have experienced similar problems. A cell had to be fumigated last year after ants were found at Kentish Town police station in Holmes Road, while a wasps’ nest was discovered at Albany Street station in Regent’s Park and maggots had to be dealt with at West Hampstead police station in Fortune Green Road.
Assistant borough commander Roger Smalley said: “It has to be expected that with many established buildings in London, at times, pests like ladybirds, mice or ants can be found, especially when these buildings are occupied 24 hours a day, seven days a week by a high number of officers, who are likely to notice them more.”

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