Dagenham and Rainham MP Acts Swiftly To Obtain Work To End Rat Infestation In The Area.

“Rainham village is such a special place of real heritage value that deserves to be well looked after and a place to be rightly proud of.”

The Member of Parliament for Dagenham and Rainham, Margaret Mullane MP has received confirmation that essential work will be carried out to clean and clear up an area in Rainham village and deal with an infestation of rats.

Fay Hough and Sue Watson, members of the Rainham and Wennington Labour Action Team had reported evidence of rat infestations around areas of land and the stream near to Rainham station.Network Rail has responded to the urgent call from Margaret Mullane saying that they have arranged for a contractor to carry out baiting on its land. In addition, Havering Council has now responded to the call for action from the MP.

An officer from Havering’s Public Protection team visited the area at St Helens Court during week commencing 12 January 2026 and spoke withresidents who said that they had periodically seen rats in the car park area.  The officer also visited a day nursey operating at the Community Hall in the area and was informed that they had previously had a similar problem before and it was dealt with by the Council’s Housing Department.

The managing agent for the area will arrange for their maintenance team to visit shortly and take any necessary action to lay bait and clean the areas. The Public Protection Officer has advised that this matter may include a wider area than St Helens Court, including a new development nearby. The officer will visit the area during week commencing 26th January 2026 to conduct an extensive survey of the location.

Margaret told the Havering Daily: “I had made urgent calls to deal with the problem to those organisations responsible for these areas of land.

I was concerned that unless action is taken, the nearby St Helens Court blocks of flats could be affected. So I was determined to see a concerted effort by all the responsible landowners to ensure that the rat infestation is quickly controlled.”

Margaret went on to say “Rainham village is such a special place of real heritage value that deserves to be well looked after and a place to be rightly proud of. I thank Fay and Sue and Network Rail in acting to protect residents from harm and maintain pride in the area.

I see and hear that there are some groups that just sit back and moan about things, that’s not me, I want to do all I can to put things right for local people. I can’t always win, but I will never stop making the effort.”

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