Victim: Alison Larnder, a 34-year-old singer, was diagnosed with the disease earlier this year

Surging numbers of people are being diagnosed with Lyme disease as cases spread from rural areas to the suburbs.

The number of confirmed cases quadrupled in just 12 years, with more than 1,000 people diagnosed with the condition in 2013.

But the NHS believes there are now up to 3,000 people being infected each year. Other experts suggest the true number could be in the tens of thousands.

Lyme disease – a bacterial infection that can cause neurological damage, extreme fatigue, joint pain and even death – is carried and spread by ticks.

These ticks are increasingly being found in urban parks. New housing developments in rural areas are also fuelling the rise in cases. Experts warn that many people are unaware of the risks and that more needs to be done to tackle the disease.

Howard Carter, a bite protection expert, said he had found sheep or deer ticks in three quarters of London’s parks in the last year and that ‘the picture will be similar across Britain’.

‘The number of ticks is increasing all the time and quite dramatically,’ he told The Sunday Times. ‘People really do need to be aware of the impact these things can have on health. If you are bitten it is not a little itch that goes away after a couple of days, it can be life-changing or even fatal.’

Mr Carter estimates there has been a 10 per cent rise in the tick population in 20 years, fuelled by climate change bringing warmer, wetter weather, which prolongs the life of infected ticks.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine recently found ticks in Richmond Park and Bushy Park in south west London. Some of those in Richmond were infected with the Lyme disease bacteria.

Laboratory reports collected by Public Health England show that the number of confirmed cases of Lyme disease quadrupled between 2001 and 2013, when there were 1,112 cases.

Cause: Some sufferers who have had negative tests say they have later tested positive. Experts also warn that those who are infected often ignore the initial symptoms, which include a rash, tiredness and headaches. The disease is spread by tick bites (file image)

But blood tests are not always reliable. The NHS estimates 2,000 to 3,000 people are infected each year. But Ian Burgess, an entomologist and director of Insect Research and Development in Cambridge, said there could be as many as 35,000 cases annually.

He added: ‘People are visiting woodlands and parklands in greater numbers than ever and so coming into contact with ticks. There is a widespread ignorance of the risks which are very real.’

There is a widespread ignorance of the risks which are very real. Entomologist Ian Burgess

He added that deer which carry ticks are also increasingly entering suburban areas.

Alison Larnder, a 34-year-old singer, was diagnosed with the disease earlier this year. She had flown to Norway for private tests after three NHS tests came back negative. She believes she was bitten by a tick at a music festival in Oxfordshire last year.

‘I was very ill straight away,’ she told The Sunday Telegraph. ‘Then I got a bit better and then gradually got very tired, pain and fatigue all over my body. I kept going back to my GP, but she could not diagnose me with anything.’

Last month, Phones 4u founder John Caudwell, 63, revealed that he, his ex-wife and three children all had Lyme disease.

Sufferers: Last month, Phones 4u founder John Caudwell (pictured), 63, revealed that he, his ex-wife and three children all had Lyme disease

Some sufferers who have had negative tests say they have later tested positive. Experts also warn that those who are infected often ignore the initial symptoms, which include a rash, tiredness and headaches.

The disease can be treated effectively if diagnosed early, but if it goes untreated sufferers can develop severe, long-lasting complications.