Experts are warning that the UK is being invaded by a wave of super-resistant bedbugs which have been brought back to the country by returning holidaymakers!

Gap year travellers returning with infested rucksacks have been identified as a major source of the problem with pest controllers in London and the South East reporting a 108% rise in call outs in the past year.

Hotels are notorious breeding grounds for bedbugs because of the number of people using the beds and they are most active at night and are attracted to the warmth of bodies and carbon dioxide from people’s mouths.

Whilst bedbugs are by no means a new problem, with evidence suggesting their existence dates back to the time of the Pharaohs in 1350 B.C. and at one time 70% of British homes were potentially infected with them, today they are becoming resistant to many of the traditional chemicals and insecticides used to kill them.

What are the warning signs of a bedbug infestation?

Bedbugs can survive for up to a year without feeding, but when they do feed, they can suck up to seven times their own weight in human blood, usually between 3am and 6am. They can scuttle from one end of a bed to the other in five seconds. Their colour varies between dark yellow, red or brown and adult bedbugs are visible to the naked eye, looking a bit like lentils. If your property is housing a major bedbug infestation, you may be able to smell something like a mixture of raspberries, almonds and mouldy shoes.

Finding bedbugs in your property can be a shock but they aren’t dangerous and can’t transmit diseases.

What to do if you have a bedbug infestation

The new wave of bedbugs are developing a thicker exoskeleton, known as a cuticle, which is helping them to survive exposure to commonly used insecticides. So, with bedbugs now becoming resistant to traditional methods of killing them, removing them from a property is a job best left to the pest control experts.

With access to a whole armoury of solutions to deal with the most resistant strain yet of bedbugs, pest control professionals can use specialist monitoring tools to determine the full extent of the infestations, innovative new treatments to deal with the problem and if needs be, the whole room will be treated to prevent recurrences.

One of the best tools at a pest control expert’s disposal is heat treatment which is fast acting and deals with all of a bedbug’s life stages: the eggs are killed as well as the live, resistant bugs and personal items can be treated without being damaged as well as the bed.

To ensure you get a good night’s sleep, don’t try to deal with a bedbug infestation alone. Pest control specialists can deal with the problem quickly and effectively, ensuring you don’t have nightmares!