The Eurostar says it will take preventative measures against bedbugs on its London-Paris trains after a surge of the insects in France.
The small blood-sucking insects have been spotted in cinemas, hospitals and trains in Paris, raising fears of an outbreak.
The Eurostar said it would disinfect any train "as soon as there is any doubt”, in addition to its usual cleaning in the wake of the fears.
A spokesperson said: “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.”
Transport for London said it was not aware of any outbreaks in London, after some commuters raised fears about the possibility of the outbreak spreading to the London Underground, which has fabric seat coverings.
A TfL spokesman told The Independent: “We are not aware of any outbreaks in London, but we will monitor our network and continue our rigorous and thorough cleaning measures which have been proven to keep both the interior and exterior of our trains clean.”
Sniffer dogs will help inspect French trains and the Paris metro for bedbugs after dozens of reports of infestations, the French transport minister said on Wednesday.
However, he said that so far not a single bedbug had been found on the metro.
Clement Beaune said there had been about ten traveller reports about bedbugs at Paris public transport operator RATP and 37 at rail operator SNCF in recent weeks.
“When there is a problem, we deal with it, we won’t deny it. There is no outbreak of bedbugs in public transport," Mr Beaune said.
French media have reported there are fears in government worries about the impact on tourism over the bedbugs and the Paris Olympics, which start in less than a year.
However, experts say it is unclear if there is an increased problem, or an increase in awareness of the issue due to viral social media videos.
French ministers said all French public transport operators will increase measures against bedbugs, including with canine sniffer teams to detect them.
The transport ministry has also pledged that data will be published every three months about all bedbug reports and any confirmed infestations.
