Been neglecting the blogs, my excuse is that it has been wet and miserable and it didn't seem worthwhile posting results every time but here are the results so far:

Carpet - had a high level of slug interest initially (about 20 each day to start with as got damp quicker than other tests) however long term the slugs didn't settle here however the snails did in abundance (maybe snails and slugs don't mix!?) so this is a worthwhile trap (and it also got a lot of earthworms which I like to put into new raised beds).

Conc Slab - This was much dry than the rest and would always have a few slugs but only a few. Ants took advantage of it though! so far not worth it, maybe as things rot underneath it might work so I'll keep it going.

Surprise result - Accidently left some plastic seed trays outside. Picked it up and found a fair few snails under it. Snails appear to like going under something that provides cover but is off the ground and I have found this in various part of the garden with other items. so I'm going to set up a covered shelter in parts of the garden I can easily inspect.

Piece of wood - Again, like slab, only a few slugs

Surprise result - I use old palates to construct my 1m x 1m compost bins and some of the very first I made got abandoned and left to rot for a couple of years. I had a clean up where the old compost bins were and threw the rotted palate wood on part of a lawn to separate it for collection later to take it to the recycling centre. A couple of days later I got round to bagging it and to my surprise this small pile became crowded with slugs, so the conclusion thus far would be that rotted or rotting wood will make the best decoy trap for slugs - start with such rather than new/in tact wood.

Beer trap - I started with a self made beer trap made out of plastic tubs filled with yeast waste covered with an old ridge tile. This when into a lumpy gunge, probably my fault for doing the mix wrong. However with all the rain the slugs were starting to take over so desperate measures were called for so I went out and bought pre made slug traps from a garden centre and used an old can of Fosters. The results were instant and very impressive. Next day each little pot had 30-40 'drunk to death' slugs in them, the same result next day (which was today!).

Pre-made slug trap from garden centre, £4 for 3 - worth every penny!

I have also been out hand picking them off plants, best results seem to be after a rainfall or at dusk. It's labour intensive but you can really relieve an area, say a raised bed but a couple of sessions of this and see the plants get noticeably healthier for it.