YOUR article that mentioned bedbugs reminded me of something that happened to my father in the last war.

He was a carpenter and joiner. Every morning after the Blitz on Plymouth he would go from our home in Cornwall to do small repairs i.e. windows and such. One morning he and another workman went to a house in a poor part of Plymouth to repair a bedroom window. As they entered the room the other chap said "We're not going in there'',Dad was surprised and asked "Why?''. The chap said "Bugs. I can smell them.'' My father had never seen a bedbug in his life, but they sent for the foreman. When he arrived, he pulled back the mattress and the bed frame was covered in bugs. Needless to say they beat a hasty retreat. To finish off his day mum made him strip off in the garden before letting him in.

Thelma Ash, Bishopstoke.