Oldham residents have expressed concern over a suspected bed bug on a local bus which was shared on social media.

The reaction comes as the alleged bedbug was photographed on the 59 bus to Oldham Mumps by a 22-year-old passenger, following an invasion of the blood-sucking pests in Paris and London.

Judith Bradbury, a 67-year-old resident of Oldham, described the reported parasite as making her feel “not very good” as she uses public transport “an awful lot”.

She said: “I believe there was also some maybe seen on the tram as well and they were supposed to be giving the trams a deep clean as well.

“There’s enough things going on in the world I know that but it’s nice to be able to travel cleanly and safely.”

The Oldham Times:

“It would concern me, of course it would, because I carry food and things like that and I don’t drive,” Judith added.

Rhian Clethen, 17, also said it made her “a bit concerned”, given that she takes the 59 bus every day. Yet Rhian clarified she has never had a personal experience with a bedbug.

However, other locals seemed to be untroubled by the sighting on public transport. One resident, Don Bentley, remained unfazed by the bed bug, despite travelling daily from Shaw to Oldham.

He said: “It doesn’t bother me. There’s lots of bugs knocking about anyway. If I could stop it, I would do, but you can’t do and that’s life isn’t it.”

Although there was controversy over the exact identification of the type of termite, First Bus Manchester issued an apology on X, formerly Twitter.

The company said: “This is really concerning to see, and we do apologise for this. Were you able to get the fleet number so we can report this to our depot management team?”

First Bus has also since established the exact vehicle on which the creature was spotted and taken action.

A spokesperson for the business said: “Our buses are cleaned thoroughly each evening by a specialist team using highly effective and long-lasting cleansing products.

“We have no reports of bugs being identified and our team remains vigilant as part of the normal cleaning regime.”

As more of the parasites arrive from France, residents can make use of Oldham Pest Control’s free service to deal with public health pests, including bed bugs.