RATS, cockroaches and mice have been found at Southend and Basildon hospital sites, according to a Freedom of Information Act probe.

In the past two years, Southend Hospital has had weekly visits from its pest control contractor BPC Anglia as well as emergency visits if a problem is spotted.

But hospital bosses were unable to say exactly how many call outs there had been.

Problems involved rats, cockroaches, mice, ants, wasps, pigeons and crickets.

Basildon Hospital, across all sites including Orsett Hospital and St Andrews in Billericay, has called out the pest control services 34 times during the same period from January 2006 to 2008.

Complaints were made about rats outside the buildings and there were six calls complaining about cockroaches, including one in the breast care unit in 2006.

But the figures for the two hospitals, which were released after a Tory party FoI request were far better than many others across the country.

In Nottingham pest control were called out 1070 times, in Hull they were called out 898 times and in Portsmouth 857 times.

James Duddridge, Conservative MP for Rochford and Southend East, said: "The general perception from constituents is that Southend Hospital is an unclean hospital and that's quite a strong perception.

"There's a mismatch as to where the hospital thinks they are at and where they hospital is at.

"It's an old and decrepit building that's not kept particularly well so it's inevitable that there are problems. That's not acceptable but it's inevitable.”

Sarah Dawson, head of nursing at Southend Hospital, said the hospital has a large number of buildings, many of which date back many years and can attract pests.

She said: "We are constantly vigilant and have a pest control contract with a specialised company to prevent pests becoming a problem.

"The company provides a routine weekly site visit and can be called out if emergency treatment is required.

"Whenever pests do need to be removed we respond rapidly and effectively.

"We take cleanliness extremely seriously at Southend University Hospital and are constantly introducing additional measures to ensure our levels of hygiene are the best."

Jenny Galpin, director of projects and facilities, said: "We have an ongoing pest prevention programme which includes regular visits from a specialised pest control company.

"We are extremely vigilant for any pest issues across all of our trusts buildings and grounds an will act immediately to address them effectively."