An angry holidaymaker has spoken out about a recent holiday to Lisbon that was ruined by a stay in a bed-bug infested apartment.

Nicola Stone, from Queensferry near Edinburgh, claims she was a few days into a 10-day break in the Portuguese capital last November with her partner Jerry when she woke up with itchy bites all over her body.

The infestation in the couple's bed was so severe that the sheets were littered with bug excrement and spots of blood from where the parasites had latched on to Stone's skin, she claimed.

Nicola Stone, from Queensferry near Edinburgh, had her holiday last November ruined by a bed bug infestation

The bites all over Stone's body were so painful that she was unable to even hold hands with her partner without causing discomfort

Initially though, they were unaware of the cause of the itchy marks and put it down to a rash caused by an allergic reaction.

It was only after a visit to a local pharmacy, where Stone was given antihistamines and cream, that they realised the cause was bed bugs in their hotel.

Stone told The Daily Record: 'It was itchy, painful and hot - it was only after we saw the chemist that we realised little black dots which kept appearing on the sheets was bed bug excrement.

'There was also blood on the sheets which they had dripped as they walked around the bed.'

By that time, the bites had become so painful that Nicola was unable to even hold hands with her partner without causing discomfort.

She said: 'I couldn't sleep because of the itching so my partner couldn't sleep either.'

Following their visit to the pharmacy, the couple looked up their hotel on TripAdvisor and learnt that a fellow guest at the Hello Lisbon Santos Apartment had also recently suffered with the same problem.

After lifting up the mattress in their room, they discovered several skeletons of dead bugs lying on the bed frame.

Despite the infestation causing the couple serious discomfort, they were forced to wait until the following day to inform the cleaners of the issue and be moved to separate accommodation.

Stone was on a romantic holiday in Lisbon (pictured) when she began to get bites all over her body

The couple also handed over all of their clothes to staff for a deep clean and Stone was forced to wear long-sleeved tops and trousers to protect her bitten arms and legs.

Following advice for the Citizen's Advice Bureau back in Scotland, the couple were later given a £549 refund for the cost of their bedroom and their medical supplies from their booking agent Lastminute.com.

A Hello Lisbon spokesman told MailOnline: 'There was identified a problem in one of our properties, and at the moment, the property is closed until the end of the month for the solving of the the situation without causing harm to more guests.

'Besides the refund, when the problem was reported to us, the guests were immediately accommodated in another property of Hello Lisbon.'

Lastminute.com's spokeswoman told the Daily Record: 'The experience and the safety of our customers is our No1 priority. We regret the impact this has had on Ms Stone's holiday.'