Bedbugs are already hiding in dozens of flats across Swindon, it is reported, as families chuck out their mattresses and sofas in an attempt to get rid of the blood-sucking insects.
The pests are on the rise in the UK, with data released by Rentokil last month finding there had been a 65% increase in infestations from 2022 to 2023. They are believed to have spread from Paris, which has seen plagues of the insects being reported in schools, hospitals and cinemas.
And Brits are now on the lookout for the bugs following outbreaks. Antonia Selby, who lives with her partner and their three children in Swindon, Wiltshire, was horrified to discover an infestation after turning over the sofa. She initially believed her eldest, Odin, was suffering an allergy when she noticed red spots covering his body.
The 28-year-old told The Sun: "The council sent a pest control company who sprayed the room and we had to stay out for five hours. It’s been done twice now but they come back after a couple of days. Some neighbours have had worse infestations and even thrown their mattress out with a sign warning people not to take it."
Dozens of flats in the town have been affected by the outbreak, according to the paper. Meanwhile, the north west is also said to have seen a surge in enquiries about the pests in recent weeks. Abbie Glover, of Pest Control Manchester, said: "We have seen an increase in the number of reports in the last few weeks from 30 to 40%.
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"A lot more companies have been calling up such as hotels to find out about the proper procedures to deal with them. Bedbugs are one of the worst pests as they are so hard to get rid of and they can multiply with themselves.”
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Luton Council in Bedfordshire said it was carrying out an ‘alarming’ number of jobs to get rid of bedbugs, while in London they have been found in offices and cars as well as homes. Tony King, owner of Pied Piper Pest Control based in the capital, said: "We’ve been inundated with calls about bedbugs - we’ve been flat out for at least the last eight or nine months with them.”
And David Cain, founder of London-based pest controllers BedBugs Limited, said the problem was out of control, saying he is called out to around 15 to 20 cases a week compared to four a week in 2007. He added: “The problem is worse now than it’s been since probably the 1930s and 1940s”.
After a skin-crawling video of a suspected bed bug crawling up the trouser leg of somebody sitting on the London Underground has been viewed almost two million times on Tik Tok, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan vowed to tackle the problem and said TFL disinfected seats every day.
He said: “We are speaking to our friends in Paris to see if there are any lessons to be learned but for a variety of reasons we don’t think those issues will arise in London; but there is no complacency from TfL." Bedbugs are small, brown insects that are close in size to apple seeds.
They hide in mattresses, emerging at night to bite and feed on human blood. They can be spread unwittingly after latching on to clothes and luggage, with fans in France for the ongoing Rugby World Cup being warned to check their suitcases before heading back to the UK.
Usually there is an uptick in the insects in the summer months, as more people are likely to be travelling around. The return of international travel following the coronavirus pandemic is also believed to be a partial factor behind the increase.
A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: "The welfare of our tenants is incredibly important to us. The last time our tenant contacted us was back in July when we arranged for a pest controller to treat her home. She was given the pest controller’s contact details if the problem arose again, but he has not received any further calls.
"We also treated two further properties and have had no further concerns reported to us in the intervening period. Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to treat and, in some cases, it may take several visits from pest controllers to eradicate the problem. Our tenants have been advised of what action they can take to mitigate the risk of an infestation."
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