PEST control could be due for a shake-up in Weymouth, Portland and West Dorset.

Weymouth and Portland has been without a council-run service since 2008 due to ‘financial pressures’.

A report going before the management committee next week says since then, demand has ‘most likely’ been met by commercial suppliers and home treatments.

But councillors are being asked to approve that Weymouth and Portland Borough Council (WPBC) join North Dorset District Council (NDDC) which has an ‘approved’ outsourced pest control provider.

West Dorset, which currently provides its own in-house service, could also move across to the new contract.

Figures in a report suggest residents needing rat or mice treatment could expect to pay £35 under the new contract, rather than £42 for the current in-house service.

No one from West Dorset District Council was available to tell the Echo the current cost of running an in-house service.

Of the potential new service, the report going before WPBC says: “The framework would be owned by NDDC and managed through the shared service partnership.

“It would have a two-year term with an option to extend for a further two years upon satisfactory performance.

The service would be monitored through a range of key performance indicators including service user satisfaction.”

Although the service would be private, “management costs would be accommodated within existing resources of the shared service partnership. There may be a requirement to contribute to the procurement project cost. This will be met from within the existing budget”.

Councillor Mike Goodman, briefholder for Community Safety, said: “There is a well-established service providing good service in the north of the county. It makes sense for us, instead of telling residents to find their own, to recommend a specific service.”

There are no plans to remove the current in-house dog warden services of either Weymouth and Portland or West Dorset at this time.