A WOMAN who developed a mystery rash believes it was caused by an allergic reaction to hairy caterpillars that have been spotted along Bournemouth’s cliffs.

The Southbourne beach hut owner, who does not want to be named, saw her GP about the pinprick red rash, but he was not sure what it was.

The penny dropped after the woman read a national newspaper article about pest controllers using flame-throwers to combat an infestation of brown tail moth caterpillars among the beach huts of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex.

The grubs emerge from their web-like colonies with the warmer weather in May and June, then again in September and October. They are covered in tiny hairs, which can break off and cause skin irritation, breathing problems and headaches.

“I saw these caterpillars in the greenery on the zigzag and didn’t take any notice,” said the woman.

“I had a few people around on Thursday and six of us had the rash. Everybody who’s got a beach hut, except one, had had this.”

Brown tail moth caterpillars are native to mainland Europe, but have become common on the South Coast and are spreading northwards as average temperatures rise.

The caterpillars have a dotted white line along each side and two red dots on the back of the tail. They prefer hawthorn and bramble bushes, but will feed off virtually any kind of tree or shrub.

During the late 1990s, Portsmouth council tackled a plague of brown tail moth caterpillars by using pheromone traps to disrupt their breeding cycle.

And in 2006, New Forest District Council began a five-year coppicing programme at Hordle Cliff, Milford on Sea, to keep numbers down.

A spokeswoman for Bournemouth council said seafront officers were not aware of the caterpillars being a particular issue this year.

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