A British holidaymaker has been left scarred with 200 bedbug bites after staying in a hotel.
The ordeal comes as fears grow that the bedbug outbreak in France could spread to the UK.
Holidaymaker, Sharon Haslam, 65, said the insects had left a “big red” blotch on her face and arms and now fears the blemishes may “never go away”.
After staying at the Calypso Hotel in Blackpool, Sharon and her friend Marian Pearson, 60, woke up to find themselves covered in an itchy rash.
British holidaymaker left scarred with bedbug bites
The pair made a last-minute booking at the hotel for two nights, costing £170, so they could join eight friends for a birthday bash in the resort town on September 8.
But when they got up the next morning, they found droplets of blood covering their bedding and a live bedbug crawling around next to them.
Sharon said they’d now received a full refund from their travel agency Booking.com, along with £100 in compensation, but still felt scarred from the experience.
However now she is hoping to alert others of the dangers of bedbugs as fears grow they're already on the march from Paris, prompting a deep clean of seats on London's tube network.
Speaking of the matter, Sharon said: "When we woke up, my friend pulled her sheets back and noticed there was blood. We thought ‘Where has that come from?’
“Then we found mine also had specs of blood all over the sheets as well. It took us ten minutes to work it out.
“We started to look around the floor and found droplets of blood, and then I found a live bed bug. I captured it in a little cup.
“I got to the reception and presented them with the bug in the cup.”
After leaving the hotel, Marian said the pair immediately doused themselves in bug spray, before finding alternative accommodation to stay in for their next night.
But when they got home, she said the bite marks had kept reappearing.
Marian was prescribed strong antibiotics, antihistamine tablets and creams - after doctors feared the bites could lead to an infection.
Sharing: "As soon as I arrived home, my partner took my luggage to the tip.
“We tied up the clothes in air-tight bags and then opened them in the washing machine and washed them.”
A spokesperson for the Calypso Hotel previously admitted they’d received previous complaints about “bug issues”.
But they said an inspector from Blackpool council found no evidence of bedbugs just two days before Marian and Sharon’s stay.
They said: “We have had few complaints about the bug issues. We take any complaint regarding bed bugs very seriously and deal with it immediately.
“Most of the time customers complain just to get a refund. A few weeks ago we had two rooms complaining about the same and when we checked with a UV torch no evidence was found.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel