A PEST control expert has revealed his 30p hack for keeping blood-sucking flies out of your home.
The ‘Dracula’ bugs – known commonly as horseflies – are becoming rampant in UK gardens, and their stings and bites have the potential to prove fatal.
The British Pest Control Association puts the blood-sucking flying bugs in its "Top Ten Stings and Bites to Avoid List".
Now Stuart Halliday, 42, owner of Kill and Cure Pest Control, has explained how lemon juice can fend the fiends off.
He told The Sun: “This is the time of year now when the horseflies come out. They can bite – and the bites can be very nasty.
“Sometimes they can make their way down into your home from your loft, or they just find their way in through open windows.
“Citrus fruit or citrus oil is a nice and cheap way of fending them off.
“You could put lemon juice or have lemongrass oil along your windowsills. Burners or infusers work great too.
“They also cover the smells of food in your property which is what alot of insects are after.
"It’s a natural odoring."
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It comes as a blend of hot weather and downpours has lured the vampire flying bugs to the UK rather than the Mediterranean nations they usually plague.
But lemon juice isn't the only way of stopping them from entering your home.
Mr Halliday explained: “The best way of keeping them away in the first place is to keep their food source far away from your home.
“They like hay, piles of grass. You’ll often find them by ponds, in woodlands, grass and livestock.
“Keep your grass cuttings away from your house.
“The other thing is if you have lots of spiders in your garden or hanging around your window – don’t knock down their webs.
“It might look a bit unsightly but these spiders are the number one killers of horseflies.
“If you have a web near your window they’ll be caught in that instead of coming into your home to bite.
“They are nature’s flycatchers so we like them!”
Although the extreme side-effects of the bites are rare – they have led to deaths in the past.
In 2013, former rugby player and father-of-four Andy Batty, from Brixham in Devon, died aged 48 after suffering a massive allergic reaction to a horsefly bite.
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He died within seconds of being bitten after suffering anapyhlactic shock, paramedics revealed.
The NHS recommends: "See your GP if you have symptoms of an infection, such as pus or increasing pain, redness and swelling."
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