diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0204d01d3..a15e5a300 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ run-celery: ## Run celery
 		-A run_celery.notify_celery worker \
 		--pidfile="/tmp/celery.pid" \
 		--loglevel=INFO \
-		--concurrency=4
+		--concurrency=2
 
 .PHONY: run-celery-beat
 run-celery-beat: ## Run celery beat
diff --git a/app/celery/reporting_tasks.py b/app/celery/reporting_tasks.py
index fae3f148e..f72a3879e 100644
--- a/app/celery/reporting_tasks.py
+++ b/app/celery/reporting_tasks.py
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ from app.dao.fact_notification_status_dao import (
 )
 from app.models import EMAIL_TYPE, LETTER_TYPE, SMS_TYPE
 
+@notify_celery.task(name='long')
+def long_task():
+    from time import sleep
+    current_app.logger.info("Running long_task")
+    sleep(20)
+
 
 @notify_celery.task(name="create-nightly-billing")
 @cronitor("create-nightly-billing")
diff --git a/app/config.py b/app/config.py
index 46413ca70..475bd87ce 100644
--- a/app/config.py
+++ b/app/config.py
@@ -192,7 +192,8 @@ class Config(object):
         'broker_url': 'sqs://',
         'broker_transport_options': {
             'region': AWS_REGION,
-            'visibility_timeout': 310,
+            'visibility_timeout': 10,
+            'wait_time_seconds': 1,
             'queue_name_prefix': NOTIFICATION_QUEUE_PREFIX,
         },
         'timezone': 'Europe/London',
@@ -343,10 +344,12 @@ class Config(object):
     # we can set celeryd_prefetch_multiplier to be 1 for celery apps which handle only long running tasks
     if os.getenv('CELERYD_PREFETCH_MULTIPLIER'):
         CELERY['worker_prefetch_multiplier'] = os.getenv('CELERYD_PREFETCH_MULTIPLIER')
+    CELERY['worker_prefetch_multiplier'] = 1
 
     # on reporting worker, restart workers after each task is executed to help prevent memory leaks
     if os.getenv('CELERYD_MAX_TASKS_PER_CHILD'):
         CELERY['worker_max_tasks_per_child'] = int(os.getenv('CELERYD_MAX_TASKS_PER_CHILD'))
+    CELERY['worker_max_tasks_per_child'] = 1
 
     FROM_NUMBER = 'development'
 
diff --git a/run_celery.py b/run_celery.py
index e21533c86..d042beddc 100644
--- a/run_celery.py
+++ b/run_celery.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
+import pycurl
 from flask import Flask
 
 # notify_celery is referenced from manifest_delivery_base.yml, and cannot be removed