A young mother is horrified after her flat in Chatham became infested with foreign ladybirds known for carrying a sexually-transmitted infection.

Jessie Brewster, 21, discovered a rash of the bugs, which can bite and squeeze out a foul-smelling yellow fluid, in two year-old son Frankie’s bedroom.

The single mum rang the council to ask pest control officers to get rid of the insects from her home in Fort Pitt Street.

But she was told she would have to pay for pest control service and the council does not deal with ladybirds as they are not a threat to public health.

Miss Brewster, who is receiving benefits, said she could not afford to pay for their removal.

She said: “It’s disgusting they have multiplied in two days. I must have hundreds of them. I have tried hoovering them up but some still come out alive.

“I can’t let my little boy sleep in his own room, so he’s in with me. We haven’t come out with any irritations yet, but it makes me itch all the time just looking at them.”

They are said to be Harlequin ladybirds - a foreign variety flying in from Asia and North America on mild autumn winds.

The bugs, which have black wings rather than our common red, are believed to pose a major threat to our native smaller ladybirds because they carry an STI called Laboulbeniales.

The creatures, which are heading inside to hibernate, pass on the fungal disease through mating.

They have been spotted elsewhere in the county, but this is the first reported incident in Medway.

Homeowners have taken to social media to report on similar outbreaks.

Writing on Facebook, Kristabel Brooks said: “My house is covered in lady bugs. Is it some sort of mating season?"

Sandra Prosser warned if they are inside they could congregate in a corner and go to sleep until spring, which she dubbed “harmless but stressful”.

Violet Gibbs, wrote: “We are plagued with them right now. Keep flying into my face.”

The harlequins have different colour variations, including large red or orange spots on black wing shells.

Originally from Asia, they were introduced into Europe to eat crop-destroying pests.