'Glamping' family bin £500 of goods after bed bug infestation at Northampton holiday park

Nicci Martin, a childminder from Bedford, stayed at Billing Aquadrome holiday park for one night with her husband and two children when she saw bed bugs crawling on her four-year-old daughter's face.

Mrs Martin said: “I was woken up by my eight-year-old son who needed the toilet at 11.30pm. He said he was itchy and was causing a fuss so he swapped beds with my husband.

“My husband then woke me up at around 1am and said he felt something crawling on him. We lifted the children out of bed who were crying because they were confused and we flicked bugs off their faces.

“We called the emergency number and they sent out two guards who upgraded us to better accommodation but we were only staying for one night.”

The family who stayed in a wooden camping pod, which is used as an alternative accommodation to a tent, have had to throw away items such as teddies, duvets and pillows that have cost Nicci £531 to replace.

Nicci claims that the bed bugs have been living in the grooves of the wooden hut and feeding on the mould.

The mother-of-two has been refunded for her stay at Billing Aquadrome but wants to take her claim further.

Mrs Martin said: “I’m a childminder and I only have a week off in the summer holidays to spend with my children. We couldn’t afford a holiday this year and the kids wanted to camp so we went away for some family time.

“Billing should retrain their cleaners. I will be taking this claim further.”

Heidi Mills, from Nuneaton, stayed in the same pod the Friday before with her husband and twin sons.

Mrs Mills said: “We stayed in the pod for four nights - I’m demoralised to think that we stayed somewhere so dirty.

"My twin boys who are aged nine were both bitten all over and had to have a week off school.”

A spokeswoman for Billing Aquadrome said: "We acted immediately on hearing of the issue, upgrading Ms Martin and her family's accommodation and addressing the accommodation problem.

"Our customer relations department, who take any customer feedback, whether positive or negative, extremely seriously, have heard from Ms Martin as recently as this morning, and will continue to look into any concerns and questions that she might have."