Bedbugs 'spotted on the London Underground' in alarming footage

A video of what appears to be a bedbug crawling up a passenger’s leg on the London Underground has gone viral. The clip, viewed more than 1.7m times since it was posted this week, shows a small brown insect crawling up the trouser leg of somebody sitting on the Victoria line. The passenger wrote in the caption: “Minding my own business on the Victoria line, a f*****g bedbug is on my leg. “Said he’d got a great deal on the Eurostar and wondered if I could take him home. No!! Sort it out, Transport for London.” @lassogold Minding my own business on the victoria line, a f**king bed bug is on my leg. Said he’d got a great deal on the eurostar and wondered if I could take him home. No!! Sort it out @Transport for London #bedbugs #bedbugslondon #bedbugsparis #tube #infestation TfL was forced to quell fears that the bedbug epidemic in Paris could spread to London last week, after the situation in France reached fever pitch. The French government held an emergency meeting to discuss the infestation, after a number of social media clips showing the insects on metro trains, in cinemas and in hotels caused hysteria online. Meanwhile, during a French National Assembly meeting, one opposition MP even took out a vial of bedbugs while calling for action. And Air France, which operates up to six direct flights a day from Paris to London, said it will ground any aircraft if bedbugs are detected on board. @morethancleaning Reply to @helenav88 checkinv for bed bugs #bedbugsbites #bedbugs??? #morethancleaning #bedbugsinhotel According to the French health and safety agency ANSES, one in 10 households in France has had a bedbug infestation between 2017 and 2022. TfL last week said: “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 maintain cleanliness both inside and outside our trains. “We are committed to providing a clean and safe environment on the Tube for our customers and staff, and we would like to reassure our customers that we continue to maintain our already high standards of cleanliness, so our staff and customers can use the network safely and with confidence.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.