UK city named bedbug capital as pest controllers say it's gone 'too far'

A UK city which has seen a 30 percent rise in bedbug cases has been branded a 'disaster zone' as outbreaks continue. Pest controllers have said the situation has gone 'too far' in the location, after the creatures spread to British shores from Paris, France.

Southend in Essex has been named the UK bedbug capital by pest controllers amid a worrying rise in the beasts. Southend City Pest Control reported a 30 percent increase in cases since August.

Managing director Kirk Day believes the growing infestation problem in the area is due to commuting on public transport, especially heading to and from London each Monday to Friday. He told EssexLive: “I think we are too far gone, it is at the point where it's going to be very hard to get it back to how it was a few years ago.

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Explaining how the situation has exploded, he said: " It is a bit of a disaster zone at the moment. You have people infested via public transport, second-hand furniture, HMO properties, and care homes.

"We are working with Essex and Southend Council and trying to provide them with advice on houses – it is more so trying to get them to deal with the wider issue.” He added: “It is not from the point of cost. That is why people generally see how bad it is and how it is going to affect them financially.

"It is when it gets into wallpapers, skirting boards, really embedding themselves into those cracks and crevices, it then becomes a bigger issue. From a business point of view, we want to be called out for issues, but obviously we don't want there to be a massive epidemic of it, otherwise our