Are you getting up in the morning to find itchy red welts or a rash on your arms, face, legs - any bare piece of flesh? Is it happening on a regular basis?

Then there is a good chance you have bed bugs.

So, how do you kill bed bugs? Follow these 5 easy steps:

1. Check carefully that you really do have bed bugs - your bites may be the work of some other beasties who come out at night like for instance bird mites.

To be sure whether or not you have bed bugs you will have to do some detective work. Strip back the sheets etc. on your bed. If you have a bed bug infestation you will most definitely come across dark faecal marks, bed bug eggs - which look similar to a grain of rice and maybe even discarded bed bug skins. You could even find some live bugs. These tell tale signs are most often to be found in the folds and creases of the mattress, around buttons, handles and along the headboard.

If you detect any of these clues it's time to take action and kill bed bugs!

2. You will have to de-clutter and clean the WHOLE room - not just the bed. The bed bugs will lurk in any crack or crevice which is dark so you will see evidence of them in cracks or holes around floors and walls, in clocks, picture frames, smoke alarms, the folds of curtains and in furniture. Therefore to successfully kill bed bugs you should be both methodical and thorough.

As I have stated before get rid of clutter - anything you don't need bag it securely and bin it! For example books, magazines and newspapers. All clothing and bedding should be taken from the room in sealed plastic bags and laundered at as high a temperature as possible, alternatively place items in a tumble dryer on a high setting for around 10 minutes. For garments, curtains, carpets and soft furnishings which cannot be de-bugged in this way it is best to use a steam cleaner to kill the bed bugs.

3. The next stage to kill bed bugs is to use a vacuum cleaner. Vacuum the entire room including the bed, soft furnishings, furniture (remember to check drawers and closets.) Do this in a methodical manner and cover every inch of the room. REMEMBER empty your vacuum cleaner straight away into a plastic bag, seal it tight and dispose of it!

4. In the same methodical way repeat step 3 using a steam cleaner. These little vampires cannot stand heat so steam is an extremely effective way to kill bed bugs. It kills them off at all stages of development - even the eggs which is something that not all bed bug sprays can achieve.

If you do discover any cracks and crevices around floors and walls now is a good time to have them repaired.

5. This step is not always essential however I would recommend you take the time to do it - after all you have come this far!

Use a spray to kill bed bugs which may have escaped the vacuum cleaner or

steam cleaner. Some of these can be toxic so be careful what you purchase. Something like Bed Bug Patrol works well and is totally safe around kids and pets.

An alternative would be to use something like fossil shell dust which can permeate the waxy skin of the bed bug thus dehydrating and killing it, or bed bug traps work well when attached to bed posts or furniture close to the bed. These work on the understanding that bed bugs are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale so as they climb to reach their nightly meal they become stuck in the sticky trap.

If you have an infestation which is very bad and in more than one room to kill bed bugs in this way will take a lot of time and effort because bear in mind you may have to repeat the whole cycle more than once before you kill all the bed bugs.

You could of course call in bed bug exterminators but this option may kill your bank balance as well as the bugs!