Commuters on the London Underground are used to all sorts of sights and sounds. But on Tuesday the level of fear in the subway was unusually high.
The reason? Beetle. Bed bugs, that is.
“I’m really scared,” said 22-year-old student Della Pirrie. “I’ve been thinking about it all day.”
Pirrie wasn’t the only one. A pest problem that first emerged in Paris two weeks ago may have reached London and beyond thanks to the Eurostar.
At least that’s the theory that’s supposed to explain the apparent sighting of a beetle on the Victoria Line, a video that purports to show a beetle on a passenger’s leg (though experts say it’s impossible to be sure which insect is pictured ). Various other sightings have been reported on other subway lines.
A few bed bugs have also reportedly been spotted on trains in the north of England.
This reporter spotted no insects during a journey on the Tube – and on a train departing from Walthamstow Central most passengers claimed a seat. But others didn’t take any risks.
Jason Cervantes, 31, who was on his way to work at a dentist’s office, feared there were bed bugs everywhere on the subway and said he would “not sit down, but get up and probably take the subway” as a precaution. instead)”.
At home, he planned to clean his bedding regularly and watch for signs. “It’s strange – bed bugs are very serious.”
Pirrie admitted that she was generally an anxious person and that her worries were compounded by thinking about how she would keep her student accommodation bug-free.
“Even if I do my best, I don’t know how protected I will be. I don’t know if I would get in trouble if I covered my room in pesticides.”
Pirrie had ordered a steamer on Monday evening and did not want to travel until it arrived, but had to attend a doctor’s appointment. She said she wanted to avoid sitting and change the sheets in the evening.
She had heard that the Victoria line was “one of the worst rated cleanliness lines in general.”
Charles Martineau, 34, a software engineer returning home after lunch with friends in King’s Cross, took a more relaxed approach.
“I’m French, I was in Paris last weekend… so I brought them all with me,” he joked.
His mother had told him about the alleged sighting on the Victoria Line that morning, but he thought the fears were “exaggerated”. He said his friends in Paris weren’t worried and hadn’t contracted bed bugs despite the videos circulating on social media.
He said: “Bedbugs are always and everywhere, it can happen to anyone. I’m not particularly worried. There’s not much you can do anyway. I’d rather they didn’t come, but I think it’s okay.”
Transport for London has said it will disinfect trains every night and London Mayor Sadiq Khan is consulting officials in Paris to prevent a repeat of the outbreak in London – but the pests are increasing worldwide due to greater travel following the pandemic. the climate crisis and pesticide resistance.