Experts are urging families to get rid of their paddling pools due to them attracting plagues of biting insects.

This is the longest heatwave Britain has endured in more than 40 years and this is attracting all the wrong types of bugs.

Public Health England has revealed that last week around 7,000 people have called the NHS hotline because of insect bites.

Horrible insects really like standing water and so a paddling pool to them is fair game, despite it being the place your children want to play.

Natalie Bungay, a BPCA field officer, told the Telegraph: "After a prolonged period of hot weather, or rather without cold and uncomfortable conditions for invertebrate pests, insect numbers may see an increase and infestations can develop if left alone.

READ - How to tell if you've been bitten by a horsefly and what to do

It comes as the populations of bloodsucking horseflies in the UK has reached Mediterranean levels, Antibiotic Research UK (ANTRUK) said.

Females feed off blood, with the charity warning that bites could result in painful swellings and the possibility of infections which might not be treatable with existing antibiotics.