Pests Act 1954

2 Extension of power to require or assist in preventive measures. E+W+S

(1) At the end of section ninety-eight of the Agriculture Act, 1947, there shall be added a new subsection (7), as follows:—

“(7) Where it appears to the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries expedient for the purpose of preventing damage by rabbits to crops, pasture, trees, hedges, banks or any works on land, he may by notice in writing served on the occupier of any land (or, in the case of unoccupied land, the person entitled to occupy it) require him to takeon the land, within the time specified in the notice, such steps as may be so specified to destroy or reduce the breeding places or cover for rabbits or to exclude rabbits there from, or to prevent the rabbits living in any place on the land from speading to or doing damage in any other place; but every such notice shall specify a time within which the occpier or any person interested in the land may submit tothe Minister written objections to the notice, and shall be provisional only and of no effect, unless confirmed after the expiration of that time by a further notice in writng served on theoccupier of the land; and, where the occupier holds the land under a contract of tenancy, a copy of any notice under this subsection shall be seved on any person to whom the occupier pays rent under the tenancy. A provisional notice under this subsection may be confirmedeither without modifications or with such modificatons as appear to the Minister desirable having regard to any objections submitted to him.”and at the end of section thirty-nine of the Agriculture (Scotland)Act, 1948, there shall be added a new subsection (5) in the sameterms, except that for any reference to the Minister of Agricultureand Fisheries there shall be substituted a reference to the Secretaryof State.

(2) The purposes for which the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries or the Secretary of State may exercise his powers under section one hundred and one of the M1 Agriculture Act, 1947, or section forty-two of the M2 Agriculture (Scotland) Act, 1948 (under which he may provide services, equipment, etc. for the purpose of assisting in the destruction of pests), shall include the rendering of assistance in destroying or reducing breeding places or cover for rabbits or in excluding rabbits therefrom, or in preventing the rabbits living in any place from spreading to or doing damage in any other place.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 The text of ss. 2(1), 4(3), 5(1)(2)(3), 10 and 11 is in the form in which it was originally enacted: it was not reproduced in Statutes in Force and does not reflect any amendments or repeals which may have been made prior to 1.2.1991.

Marginal Citations

M1 1947 c. 48.

M2 1948 c. 45.