Pest control and bird proofing in Cheetham Hill & Strangeways.

What makes premises in Cheetham Hill and Strangeways different?

The markets along Cheetham Hill Road trade in food and goods sourced from all over the world, so stock arrives in cartons, sacks and pallet loads from many different supply chains. Cheetham also has the Manchester Fort retail park, which opened in 2005 with 36 units, and Joseph Holt’s brewery, founded on Empire Street in 1860. Those are three very different kinds of site, and each lets pests in its own way.

A market unit with a worn roller shutter leaves a floor-level gap that mice can use every night. Where retail units share deliveries, pallets and bin stores, one poorly kept yard can feed rats that then move along the whole row. Wherever grain, malt or sugar is stored, rodents and stored-product insects follow. Our commercial pest control contracts start with a walk-round that maps those weak points, then a written report, a numbered site plan and a monitoring schedule, so whoever runs the site can show an inspector or head office what is in place and why. Operators who also have units in Salford or the city centre can keep every site on one contract with one set of reports.

How should a food business here prepare for an EHO visit?

Food hygiene law requires adequate procedures to control pests. When an environmental health officer inspects a grocer, takeaway or restaurant in M8 or M4, part of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme score reflects confidence in management, and pest records are routinely checked. Keep a site plan showing every bait station and monitor, dated visit reports, what was done about each sighting and a list of proofing work still outstanding, all filed with the HACCP pest-management section of your food safety documents.

Mixed imported stock is the local twist. Cockroaches and stored-product insects can travel in cartons and pallet wrap, so for market traders and anyone handling imported goods we add goods-in checks at the delivery door and monitors near delivery points as well as in kitchens and stockrooms. Inside food rooms we use tamper-resistant stations, non-toxic monitoring blocks where they are enough, and gel or targeted insecticide only where activity is confirmed. The restaurants, microbreweries and gin distilleries of the Green Quarter get the same structure, scaled to their production areas.

Why do rats follow the River Irk and the old drains?

Strangeways lies between the Irk and the Irwell, and its name is generally traced to Old English for “strong flood”, presumably because the ground was so often under water. Cheetham sits on the Irk’s west bank. In the industrial era the river was lined with mills and tanneries; as it reaches the city centre it is culverted and passes into a brick tunnel at Ducie Bridge, beneath Victoria station, before joining the Irwell. In 1816 six of its seven bridges were liable to flood after heavy rain.

Culverts, old brick sewers and riverbanks are where brown rats live and travel. When they turn up inside a business near the river, the cause is often a defect below ground: a cracked drain, a redundant connection left open when a building changed use, or a gap where services pass through a wall. Our rat and mouse control here starts by tracing the route, often with a drain survey, before any bait goes down. Outdoor rodenticide is used sparingly and in line with CRRU stewardship guidance, and monitoring stays in place after activity stops.

Construction adds pressure. Victoria North, a brownfield regeneration area of about 380 acres north of Victoria station, between the city centre and Collyhurst, plans around 15,000 homes, and building is under way. Groundworks and demolition disturb established burrows and can push rats into neighbouring premises, so sites near active works benefit from extra monitoring while the diggers are in.

What do the Victoria station incidents show about bird proofing?

Manchester Victoria, a Grade II listed station on Hunts Bank, has two documented bird incidents. In October 2016 a roof panel collapsed, injuring two people, and gulls pecking at the roof were blamed for weakening it. From October 2025, contractors working for the train operator shot pigeons there overnight, saying the building was largely open to the weather and that earlier proofing had not worked; bar staff had reported a hole in a skylight that let birds in. The operator stopped culling at its stations after pressure from a rescue group, and police began investigating.

The lesson for any building owner is that one open gap defeats everything else. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 all wild birds, feral pigeons included, are protected, and the general licences that allow lethal control in England expect reasonable non-lethal measures to have been tried first. For offices, shops and the new developments near the station, our bird control and proofing therefore starts with exclusion: sealing entry holes and skylight gaps, netting light wells and loading canopies, fitting sprung wire or spikes to ledges and removing fouling that draws more birds in. Active gull nests are protected too, so roof proofing is best planned before the nesting season.

Bird proofing on listed buildings in M8

The M8 district has 21 listed buildings, two of them Grade II*. They include the Church of St John the Evangelist, the former synagogue that now houses the Manchester Jewish Museum, the former Cheetham Town Hall and the bandstand in Cheetham Park. Ledges and cornices on older buildings often attract roosting pigeons, but netting or wire fixed to a listed building may need listed building consent, so we plan the method before any fixings go in.

Offices and apartment blocks in the Green Quarter

The Green Quarter, between Cheetham, Strangeways and the Irk, is now a district of new apartments, digital start-ups and e-commerce businesses, and it is home to the NOMA development and One Angel Square. On Cheetham Hill Road, The Peninsula, a 13-storey office block opposite New Bridge Street, was finished in 2009. Modern buildings still get pests: most often mice in service risers and ceiling voids, and flies and rodents around bin stores and communal waste rooms. For managing agents we write a building-wide plan rather than responding flat by flat, because a mouse in one apartment usually points to a shared void behind it.

Homes, landlords and the council

Many councils run a pest control service for residents, but what is covered, who can book and the charges all vary and can change, so check the council’s own pest control pages before you book. If you rent from a council or housing association, report the problem to your landlord first. If you would rather book a private firm, phone or use the enquiry form and we will arrange a survey.