Bed bugs have crawled into the cabs of train drivers and caused services to be cancelled as staff worked to clear the affected areas.
The bugs affected the West Marina train care depot near Hastings, East Sussex, which serves routes between London and Kent.
Southeastern trains have been removed from schedules after staff found the insects all over their bags.
Drivers have reportedly refused to continue on board the trains with bugs and have claimed their managers are not taking it seriously.
Trains have been cancelled since they were first spotted last week on September 22 and at least three were removed from schedule on Friday.
Two driver cabs were locked off to isolate the passenger areas.
One driver allegedly refused to move the train across the depot unless ‘provided with a white full-body protection suit… in case any transfer to themselves,’ according to the Telegraph.
There were no suits available which reportedly caused two trains to be cancelled.
The bugs affected the West Marina train care depot (pictured) near Hastings, East Sussex, which serves routes between London and Kent
A pest control van was called on Friday morning and seen outside the depot.
Oly Turner, Head of Drivers for Southeastern, said: ‘We have a great relationship with our drivers, who have helped hugely in cooperating with us over these isolated incidents.
‘When we receive reports such as these we check trains thoroughly before they are put back into service when given the all clear. Cases have been contained to the drivers’ cabs in only two of our trains and no bed bugs have been identified in areas for passengers.
‘We continually carry out robust cleaning across our trains and stations, ensuring our customers and employees can travel safely and with confidence.’
A spokesperson added there were no bugs in any Highspeed 1 services.
