In our ongoing A Day in My Life series, Ceredigion County Council community wardens Nigel Jones and Roy Noble take us through what their job entails.

The job

Roy: I took this role on over 12 years ago, having worked in this line of work for many years beforehand.

Nigel: There used to be a team of five of us, including seasonal wardens covering beaches in summer, with the help of additional contractors in order to carry out our duties but unfortunately, due to budgetary constraints over a period of several years, it’s just the two of us now.

Between the two of us, we cover pest control on farms and domestic properties across the whole of Ceredigion; Roy does all the farm visits whilst I do all the domestic visits.

There are still times though where we need to help each other out in dealing with pest issues in schools or homes, or if we have to execute a warrant on an illegal dog breeding establishment or if we have to collect stray dogs.

Pest control on farms

Roy: For the necessary standards to be in place for compliance with farm assurance schemes, farms need a plan in place to control pests and keep a record of all inspections. So, my job is to keep the number of rats down. You’ve guessed it, I have seen a lot of rats over the years!

I have over 100 farms on my books. I visit each farm up to eight times a year to ensure that pests such as rats, are kept under control.

One aspect of my role that I love is meeting people; the farmers that I visit are great, they always make me feel welcome and are appreciative of the service given.

Urgent action needed at times

Nigel: If a school or a care home phones with an issue, we always react immediately and aim to deal with the issue as soon as we possibly can.

Last year, we had to deal with a swarm of wasps that had followed a large group of children into a classroom. Luckily, we were able to get there swiftly and deal with them before too many children were stung!

Keeping homes in Ceredigion pest-free

Nigel: Whether there’s been a swarm of wasps that have come through someone’s loft and invaded their home or a group of mice have chewed their way through something, everyone is very glad when I turn up; meeting people and helping them with these issues is what I love about my job.

My day always starts at the office in Aberaeron, where I pick up all the paperwork – detailing pest issues that residents of Ceredigion have contacted the council about, and I organise my time effectively, working out which areas to cover first.

Where Roy’s lucky is that he can programme his farm visits to target one area at a time (although he will still have the occasional call-out that he’ll need to deal will immediately); my duties dealing with domestic properties are a lot more unsystematic in nature as to where I’ll be visiting each day.

To read the full feature, pick up a copy of this week’s Cambrian News, on sale now