Where to look first
Cockroaches hide by day, so the evidence usually arrives before the insect does: droppings that look like ground pepper, a musty smell, shed skins in cupboard corners. Check behind the cooker, under the sink and along door hinges, and take a torch through the kitchen after dark when activity peaks.
Flats above Whitechapel's shops and cafes
Living above one of the busy premises along Whitechapel Road means sharing pipework, warmth and sometimes a rear yard with the business below. Where cockroaches seem to be arriving from downstairs, both the flat and the shop usually need treating together, since fixing only one side rarely holds.
Tower blocks near Canary Wharf
Commercial kitchens at ground and podium level in the Canary Wharf towers can push cockroaches up through shared risers into residential floors above, particularly where a sink or floor drain in an unused unit has dried out and opened a route.
If you run a food business
Food hygiene law requires a business to keep proper pest-control procedures in place. Log what you see and when, keep deliveries off the floor and inspect boxes as they arrive. Tell us the type and rough size of the premises when you get in touch - tell us roughly how big the premises is and what kind it is, since commercial work is priced on a case-by-case basis - the same pattern holds near Limehouse, where converted dockland warehouses and basin-side apartments alongside older terraces.
What not to do while you wait
- Spraying visible cockroaches, which scatters the rest deeper into walls and next door
- Moving boxes or appliances from an affected kitchen into a clean room
- Leaving pet food or dirty dishes out overnight
- Bringing in second-hand appliances without checking them first
Booking cockroach control in Tower Hamlets
Cockroach control in Tower Hamlets is £190 for a flat and £240 for a house (business premises quoted separately); since around Poplar, where large ex-GLC and modern estates close to the East India Dock Road, telling us whether you are in a home or a business, and whether neighbouring premises might be affected, when you book cockroach control saves time, and the Tower Hamlets cockroach control page has the rest.
