Staff on the London Underground believe the network should “get rid of the cloth seats” in a bid to banish bedbugs from potentially infesting the beloved mass transit network.
Rumours are rife the blood-sucking insects have invaded the capital after France experienced a surge in numbers which has seen streets dotted with discarded mattresses.
In London, there have been sightings with a picture of a bedbug on someone’s leg on the Victoria Line.
MyLondon journalist Adam Toms travelled on the Tube to find out how bad the problem had become, as staff told him there was an easy solution.
A source at one station told Mr Toms: “Get rid of the cloth seats – I always say that anyway. Get the plastic ones.
“I’m concerned, you know? I’m actually quite scared because I’ve been through a bedbug crisis before and they’re not nice them things.
“When I used to live with my mum, I was going out with this boy. His brother lived in the house as well and his bed broke. Then someone [in the street] threw out a mattress.
“He [the brother] brought it into the house and the whole house got infested. I transferred it to my mum’s house. It was a madness we had to throw everything out.”
Bedbugs can be found on chairs and clothes as well as beds.
Pritesh Patel, 56, who works at a newspaper and snack kiosk, said his daughter told him he must change his clothes and have a wash when he arrives back home due to bedbug fears.
Mr Patel said: “My daughter came back from work a couple of days ago and as a joke said whenever I come home now I have to change my clothes and have a wash.”
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he understands that the prospect of bedbugs arriving in the city is a “real source of concern” for locals, and TfL says it is disinfecting its Tube services every day in an effort to stave them off.
