Dramatic rise in bedbugs infesting seats on buses and trains

The number of bedbugs on public transport has risen dramatically in the past year, according to research from Britain's biggest pest control company, Rentokil.

They reported a 40 per cent increase in the number of transport-related call-outs in the past year. More than two-thirds of infestations involved bedbugs. 

Don't let the bedbugs bite: The critters cause itchy white lumps on the skin

Bedbugs thrive in small places and are often found in the creases of seats and seat-belt fastenings on buses, trains and aircraft.

Savvas Othon, technical director at Rentokil, said: 'The short turnaround times for planes and other forms of transport means they are sometimes not inspected as thoroughly as they used to be.

'What should happen is a good vacuum around the back of seats and in the creases of seats. Any small gap is ideal for a bedbug, which can go for quite some time without a meal,' he added to The Times.

The number of bedbugs on public transport has risen dramatically

Adult bedbugs are brown and wingless and grow up to 1/2 centimetre long. They are visible to the naked eye.

Their bites can cause small, hard welts to appear on the skin accompanied by severe itching that lasts for several hours to days.

Call-outs for Rentokil in the past year have increased 51 per cent for cars, 24 per cent for airlines and 9 per cent for rail.

David Cain, managing director of Bed-Bugs.co.uk, a website dedicated to destroying bedbugs, said: 'The number one reason for the spread of bedbugs is the lack of public awareness. People simply do not know how to detect them in the way they would have done in the 1950s and 1960s.

'They are a problem on buses, trains and subway systems, and on cruise ships too – any form of transport where there is a high turnover, really.

'Recently, on an overground train in south London, I pulled at the parting of the upholstery and found at least four months of dirt and debris.'