Eurostar staff are on alert due to a bed bug infestation in Paris, which has hit the French capital in recent days.
The blood-sucking tiny creatures have been spotted in homes, cinemas, hospitals and trains – but a government minister has insisted there is “no outbreak” on Paris’s public transport network.
Amid fears the critters could spread in the UK, Eurostar said it has extra cleaning measures to help disinfect its cross-Channel trains if required.
A Eurostar spokesperson told ITV News: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers is always our number one priority and the presence of insects such as bed bugs on our trains, is extremely rare.
“The textile surfaces on all of our trains are cleaned thoroughly on a regular basis and this involves hot-water injection and extraction cleaning, which has proven highly effective in eliminating bugs.
“Any reports on hygiene matters are taken very seriously and our cleaning teams, in addition to the usual cleaning, will also disinfect a train on request or as soon as there is the slightest doubt.”
France’s transport minister Clement Beaune said he would deploy sniffer dogs to Paris’s metro system to inspect the trains.
He said that while 10 reports about bed bugs on the underground had been made, “zero” had been proven.
“When there is a problem, we deal with it, we won’t deny it,” Mr Beaune said.
“There is no outbreak of bed bugs in public transport. There is no resurgence of bed bugs.”
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Mr Beaune said data about any infestation will be published every three months, adding there was “no need for psychosis or fear”.
There had also been reports circulating on social media that bed bugs had been spotted in Paris’s Charles DeGaulle airport – one of the busiest in the world.
However, the airport said it did not have any bugs present in the public areas of the terminals.
