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Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite: Calls to cancel council critter cull call-out charge

A common bed bug
A common bed bug

Dundee residents are being warned of a blight of bed bugs after figures showed a 160% rise in the number of council pest control call-outs to tackle the critters.

The number of visits made by pest control officers in the Dundee City Council area for the mattress dwellers has increased exponentially since 2016, which a sharp rise recorded in 2020-21.

Council pest control services made 71 visits to bed bug infestations, up from 27 the year before and 30 in 2018-19.

The Scottish Conservatives, who requested the figures from the local authority under freedom of information legislation, have called on a moratorium on call-out charges as the coronavirus pandemic continues, given the steep increase in cases.


What are bed bugs?

Bedbugs are small insects that often live on furniture or bedding. Their bites can be itchy, but do not usually cause other health problems, according to the NHS.

Bedbugs can hide in many places, including on bed frames, mattresses, clothing, furniture, behind pictures and under loose wallpaper.

Bed bugs

Signs of bed bugs include:

  • Bites – often on areas exposed while sleeping, like the face, neck and arms
  • Spots of blood on your bedding – from the bites or from squashing a bedbug
  • Small brown spots on bedding or furniture (bedbug poo)

A standard charge for pest control is £87, an increase from £75 since 2016.

The council has charged residents more than £1.4 million in call-out charges in the last five years.

Residents in council-owned properties are not billed for call-outs.

Council areas in other parts of Scotland have scrapped the charge.

Wasps nest removal still causes the most visits of council pest personnel, with 605 visits being recorded in the last year.

Consider “scrapping charges”

Scottish Conservative North East MSP Maurice Golden said: “Cities all over the world have problems with pests, so of course it’s not something that can ever be eradicated.

“But these statistics show us there are increasing problems with bed bugs, and that’s something that needs to be tackled.

Maurice Golden MSP.

“Families who live with infestations like this can have their lives made an utter misery as a result.

“The money spent by the council on this isn’t huge, but the individual call-out charges for householders can be problematic, and may even stand in the way of some making contact at all.

“No-one should have to live with problem infestations, and the council should do everything it can to ensure that’s the case.

“Other local authorities have scrapped these charges in light of the pandemic, and the council in Dundee should consider something similar.”

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “The charges are set during the council’s budget process.

“Charges are not applied to tenants of council housing stock.”