A woman on the London underground was horrified after spotting what appeared to be a bed bug crawling up her leg, amid concerns the UK is bracing for an invasion.
As you may have seen, bed bugs are currently sweeping through Paris, with one expert recently warning that they’ve already made their way to the UK.
Speaking to Sky News, microbiologist and founder of Bed Bugs Ltd David Cain said: "I think there's probably a similar level of issue in London as there is in Paris at present.
"They're already on buses, trains, tubes, cinemas, doctor's surgeries, public spaces, hospitals."
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The pesky bugs are oval, flat, brownish-red in colour and around the size of an apple pip and feed on blood to survive.
The small bugs are hard to spot and are usually only noticed once it's too late and an infestation has taken hold.
Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to shift and often need a professional to come in and get rid, with one mum revealing she was forced to fork out more than £2,000 on treatments to get her house bug-free.
And now, just days after Cain shared his views on the news, a Londoner has posted a skin-crawling clip to TikTok showing what she thought was one of the bugs making its way up her leg.
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Posting the clip online, she wrote: "Minding my own business on the Victoria Line. A f**king bed bug is on my leg.
"Said he’d got a great deal on the Eurostar and wondered if I could take him home. Sort it out, Transport for London."
As you can imagine, fellow social media users have been seriously creeped out by the creepy crawly, with one writing: “I’ve been commuting on two trains and tubes on two different London Underground lines for over 20 years.
"Never seen a bed bug! Very worrying.”
Another said: “Guess I’m standing on my way to work then.”
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Seems like the smart thing to do, to be fair.
Someone else added: “AND YOU’RE STILL SAT DOWN?! I would rather stand all day than sit on those seats after that. I go in two weeks and I will NOT be sitting on the tube.”
I’d personally just walk if I were you, pal.
And a fourth commented: “I genuinely won’t be able to deal with this if it becomes a problem here.”
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While a traumatised fellow London commuter shared: “Cheers. Just changed into my night shirt after being on the tube and WAS happily in bed.”
Speaking to Metro, a Transport for London spokesperson said they were not aware of any bed bug outbreaks in London, although they were closely monitoring the situation.
They added: "We are continuing to implement our rigorous and thorough cleaning measures that have been proven to keep both the interior and exterior of our trains clean.
"We are committed to providing a clean and safe environment on our bus, Tube and rail service for our customers and staff, and we would like to reassure our customers that we continue to maintain our already high standards of cleanliness, so our staff and customers can use the network safely and with confidence."
Claire Reid