Now the bed bugs are on the TUBE! Grim footage shows critter crawling on passenger’s leg

• A small business owner has recorded footage of the critters on the Victoria line
• Q+A: Everything you need to know about the plague of bed bugs ravaging France
• Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results

Grim TikTok footage shows what appears to be a bed bug sitting on a passenger’s leg on the London Underground.

The clip comes amid fears that an infestation of ‘super-bedbugs’ in Paris will sweep through the UK, with hotels and transport operators already on red alert.

Experts have warned the blood-sucking critters, whose bites cause painful itching, have developed a resistance to insecticides.

In the eight second video shared online, the brown bug can be seen on the fold of the passenger’s black jeans.

TikTok user @Lassgold, who posted the clip yesterday, said they were ‘minding my own business’ on the Victoria Tube line.

In the eight second video shared online, the brown bug can be seen on the fold of the passenger’s black jeans. TikTok user @Lassgold, who posted the clip yesterday, said they were ‘minding my own business’ on the Victoria Tube line 

They urged Transport for London (TfL) to ‘sort it out’ in the footage, which has been watched 1.6million times. 

In the video, the small jewellery business owner joked that the critter said ‘he’d got a great deal on the Eurostar and wondered if I could take him home’.

TfL claimed it was ‘not aware of any outbreaks in London’.

But the organisation said it would ‘monitor’ its network and continue its ‘rigorous and thorough cleaning measures’.

It also said it was ‘committed to providing a clean and safe environment on the Tube for our customers and staff’.

Read more: Super-bedbugs are here and almost impossible to kill, experts warn – as outbreak in Paris leads to fears of a return of Victorian-era infestations

Eurostar said its trains between London and Paris are to be disinfected if there is the ‘slightest doubt’ of infestation. 

Meanwhile, a major UK hotel chain has started quizzing guests as they check in on whether they have arrived from France. 

Rooms of those who have, are given a deep clean by pest control experts when they leave.

An outbreak of the blood-sucking insects has provoked a wave of disgust in Paris.

Residents and tourists have taken to social media to post images of bugs crawling across hotel bed sheets and train seats.

Experts say the outbreak in Paris is likely due to residents returning to the capital after spending the summer elsewhere. 

But it’s also due to the fact that bedbugs are becoming harder to exterminate. 

Although they get their name from their habit of nesting in your mattress, bed bugs can also live in sofas, carpets and furniture.

They hide in small cracks and crevices as narrow as a credit card and mainly feed at night. 

Bed bugs, which get to about 7mm, typically spread when they get into clothing or bags which are then taken elsewhere.

While the bugs don’t carry any diseases that sicken humans and their bite is painless, it leaves behind an itchy red mark on areas that are exposed while sleeping.

Although Paris is battling its own invasion of bed bugs, the critters naturally exist in Britain, too.

Data from pest-control company Rentokil in September also showed that from 2022 to 2023, the UK saw a 65 per cent increase in bed bug infestations.

It blamed the resurgence in travel and hotel stays since the pandemic. 

At the time, experts also suggested it could be due to more people buying second-hand furniture from resale websites such as eBay and Facebook marketplace. 

According to the British Pest Control Association, there are now roughly 12,000 bedbug-related callouts every year. 

They urged Transport for London (TfL) to ‘sort it out’ in the footage, which has been watched 1.6million times. In the video, the small jewellery business owner joked that the critter said ‘he’d got a great deal on the Eurostar and wondered if I could take him home’ 

TfL claimed it was ‘not aware of any outbreaks in London’. But the organisation said it would ‘monitor’ its network and continue its ‘rigorous and thorough cleaning measures’. It also said it was ‘ committed to providing a clean and safe environment on the Tube for our customers and staff’ 

Eurostar said its trains between London and Paris are to be disinfected if there is the ‘slightest doubt’ of infestation. It also told MailOnline it plans to increase ‘preventative treatments’ across their entire network but said cases of bedbugs on its trains were ‘extremely rare’

An outbreak of the blood-sucking insects has provoked a wave of disgust in Paris. Residents and tourists have taken to social media to post images of bugs crawling across hotel bed sheets and train seats. In one video posted on the platform yesterday, @jimmytravelsworld showed him picking out bedbugs using tweezers from his bed and under the mattress. ‘When you go to Paris to find love but end up finding bugs living rent free in your bed’, he said. In the video watched more than 44,000 times, he also shared bite marks of his wrists after living in the infected property

Eurostar told MailOnline it plans to increase ‘preventative treatments’ across their entire network but said cases of bedbugs on its trains were ‘extremely rare’. 

Millennium Hotels and Resorts, which operates 18 hotels in the UK, are asking new guests whether they have travelled from France, according to staff at one of its London hotels. 

Meanwhile, staff at the five-star Renaissance Hotel at St Pancras station, the London Eurostar terminus, said no bedbugs have been detected there but staff have received training during the last fortnight on how to spot the pests. 

Air France also said if suspected bedbugs are reported on board one of its flights ‘the aircraft would be grounded and a specialist team would immediately be dispatched to confirm or rule out the presence of these insects’. 

It comes as experts yesterday warned that failing to tackle Britain’s growing bedbug problem will herald a return of Victorian-era infestations. 

Read more: Flights will be grounded if ‘super-bedbugs’ are found on board aircraft, and hotel owners will deploy pest control experts to deep clean the rooms of those arriving from France – as the UK tourist industry braces for an invasion of the critters from Paris

Professor James Logan, an insect expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and chief executive of research firm Arctech Innovation, told the Mail on Sunday: ‘The insecticides we’ve used for decades to fight these bugs can’t always be relied on any more.

‘Bedbugs in many places have evolved to resist these toxic chemicals.’ 

He added: ‘The trick is to catch them early before they begin laying eggs. 

‘We should be implementing more traps and alert systems to tackle the problem.

‘But we also need to develop new insecticides to avoid infestations becoming commonplace again.’

In France, concerns over the crisis have led to French officials holding crisis talks about the increase in bed bugs, with ministers in Emmanuel Macron’s government promising to ‘rapidly bring answers’ for the public. 

The deputy mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, last week claimed that ‘no one is safe’ from the ‘scourge’ of bedbugs. 

The concerns have gained added weight, with France in the throes of hosting the Rugby World Cup and Paris preparing to welcome thousands of athletes and fans from around the world for the 2024 Olympics.

France’s national health agency recommends people check their hotel beds when travelling and be cautious about bringing second-hand furniture or pre-owned mattresses into their homes. 

Once bed bugs are sighted in a home, affected rooms must be treated quickly, it said.

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