Bedbugs overrun Britain after developing resistance to pesticides as train and office infestations soar

Blood-sucking insects have developed resistance to commonly used pesticides, making traditional chemical treatments increasingly ineffective and forcing the pest control industry to turn to alternative methods.

It follows a series of high-profile incidents in London, where the crisis has spread well beyond the bedroom.

Staff at The Guardian’s King’s Cross offices were allowed to work remotely last month after bedbugs were found, as pest controllers had to return for additional treatment after further sightings emerged in the newspaper’s office.

Southeastern was forced to pull two trains from operation after bedbugs were discovered in drivers’ cabs at its Hastings depot.

Drivers reportedly refused to board affected carriages after spotting the pests crawling on their belongings, with one London-to-Kent service dubbed the “Bedbug Express.”

The operator said it found no insects in passenger areas.

Internationally, Qantas was forced to ground a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Rome for deep cleaning after economy passengers on a Perth flight complained of bites during the 17-hour journey.

The pest control industry’s own figures paint a stark picture. JG Pest Control has handled an average of ten bedbug callouts daily so far in 2026, with summer demand up 25 per cent from the previous year.

Managing director James Gale said: “London is the hotspot. In inner London, more than a quarter of our jobs are for bedbugs, against about one in ten elsewhere.”

Rentokil has seen bedbug enquiries from commercial clients such as hotels climb by more than 40 per cent over the past two years.

Nightshift Pest Control, which serves housing providers, universities, hotels and hospitals overnight across England, reported bedbug callouts rising by nearly 50 per cent this year compared with the same period in 2025.

A string of hotel infestations has also been reported across the country this year, reports The Times.

Hannah Stephenson, 31, said she awoke at a Travelodge in Cambridge in July to find more than 100 bites on her body, along with blood spots and bugs in the bedding.

The hotel chain apologised and ultimately paid her £2,000 in compensation.

Ellie Davina, 22, found roughly ten insects emerging from a pillowcase at a Premier Inn near Manchester Airport in June.

The chain said it treated the room and checked neighbouring rooms were clear.

At the Zedwell Piccadilly Circus in London, a business traveller photographed what they said were bedbugs and eggs on their mattress in September.

Valpas’s monitoring data found the pests present in one out of every 42 hotel rooms it observed.

Growing resistance to chemical treatments is a particular problem in the capital, according to James Rhoades, owner of ThermoPest Bedbug Treatment London.

He said: “Insecticide resistance is definitely growing; we are seeing this mostly in London, which is why we offer only heat treatments, since it’s the most effective way to get rid of bedbugs, as they cannot survive heat.”

British Pest Control Association guidance recommends temperatures of at least 50C sustained for two hours, or 52C for one hour, to eliminate adults, juveniles and eggs alike.

Valpas co-founder Martim Gois said the problem was fundamentally linked to rising passenger numbers.

He said, “It’s nothing to do with the stars of the hotel or cleanliness standards. Human blood is human blood. They don’t discriminate.”

Travelodge told The Times that instances of bedbugs across its hotels were extremely rare, with the company maintaining stringent cleaning regimes.

A spokesman for Zedwell Hotels apologised to any guests who had come into contact with bedbugs at its venue, adding: “We have strengthened our prevention and treatment procedures, including treating adjoining rooms, enhanced inspections and stricter checks before rooms are returned to use.”

A Premier Inn spokesman said: “Bedbugs are rare in our hotels, and we have rigorous processes in place as part of our daily housekeeping processes both to prevent issues and react to them on the rare occasion they do arise.””