Cases of bedbugs have risen 65 per cent year-on year, according to Rentokil, and experts think buying second-hand items could be the cause of it.
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The bugs can hide in many places around the home including bed frames, mattresses, furniture, clothing, behind pictures and under loose bits of wallpaper.
Tell-tale signs of an infestation include bite marks on your body, spots of blood on your bedding as well as small brown spots on bedding or furniture, which could be excrement from the bugs.
An expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has indicated that people buying furniture from sites such as Facebook Marketplace and eBay could be contributing to the increase in cases.
Professor James Logan also suggested that more tourism, travel and climate change could also be factors fuelling the rise.
Prof Logan told the Daily Telegraph: “Obviously we probably had a bit of a lull during Covid but with things starting to get back to pre-pandemic levels in terms of travel, it’s very likely that there will be bedbugs on the move much more again and travelling in people’s suitcases.”
Bedbugs are also thought to be becoming resistant to insecticides and pest control experts may need several visits to a property as treatments do not always work first time.
The comments come after a couple staying at the Cumbria Grand Hotel in the Lake District were offered £1,500 in compensation when they complained of suffering bite marks.
The Strathmore Hotel Group, which runs the hotel said bedbug infestations were “increasing at an exponential rate”.
The co-founder of the pest control Merlin Environmental, Adam Juson, told the Mirror about the signs you need to be aware of if you think you have bedbugs.
Juson said: “The most common sign of bedbugs is bites on your skin, especially after sleeping but you may also recognise blood speckles on your bedding from the bites.
“Bedbug poop can also appear on bedding and furniture and looks like small brown spots.” The creatures can live for a year without a food source, which makes them very hard to starve.
He added: “These creatures typically stay out of the way during daylight hours, and only come out to feed when people are asleep. Bedbugs detect carbon dioxide from our breathing, which tells them we are resting nearby.”
Juson said the best way to get rid of bedbugs is by using heat.
He said: “Temperatures more than 50 degrees Celsius for about 90 minutes will get rid of any bedbug problem, and if you think you have bedbugs, you can wash your bedding and clothing on a hot wash and then tumble dry on a very hot setting.”
Bedbug bites can be treated by putting something cool on them to help calm the itching and swelling.
Any infected area should be kept clean and people are advised not to scratch the bites as this could lead to an infection.
A mild steroid cream like hydrocortisone can also ease bedbug bites, as well as using antihistamines.
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