Southampton grandad wakes up to bed bugs crawling on bed

One night last month, Andy French, of Ventnor Court in Bassett, woke up to dozens of bed bugs crawling on his bed.

The 56-year-old lorry driver said: “I was woken up in the middle of the night with scratching and didn’t think very much of it.

“During that, I started scratching a lot until it started bleeding. That is when I turned the lights on and saw the little bugs in my bed, on my wall and on the floor.

“I just thought ‘what is going on’.”

Andy changed his sheets but the issue persisted so that very same day he forked out £320 on a new bed.

This didn’t arrive until a week later so until then he slept on the floor.

Bed bugs in Andy's bedroom (Image: Andy French)

He said: “If I slept on my sofa then I would have just woken up with my back killing me so I just put my stuff on the floor with my pillow and just went to sleep.

“I did lie there realising I was sleeping on the floor because of the bugs. But the more you think about these things the more it will do your head in so after a few hours, I just embraced it.”

Andy, who lives in his third-floor council-owned flat, told the property warden about the infestation and was told that the city council was "on it".

However, the grandfather-of-two said he was “livid” that it took the authority a month to get pest control to disinfect his house.

He said: “If I had kids in the flat, they wouldn’t be here, I would have to put them with my sister or with my brother.

“I’m livid with (the council), to be honest. They don’t tell you anything, you have got to be there asking and they can’t give you any sort of answer.”

For the past month, Andy has been spraying his bed sheets with anti-bed bug spray which seems to have temporarily solved the issue.

A Southampton City Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the situation at Ventnor Court and we’re working closely with affected residents to provide a solution as soon as possible.

"Where residents detect bed bugs in their homes, we recommend they get advice immediately from either our Pest Control team or an alternative private company.

"Council tenants should also contact their Local Housing Office. Treatment plans can vary; depending on the severity of the infestation a number of visits may be needed, and if this doesn’t work, further support will be offered on a case-by-case basis and may incur extra costs.

"We rely on residents to cooperate with the procedure, follow professional instructions, and allow access at the agreed appointment times. We provide lots of advice, including what to do after treatments have been carried out, on our website.”