Bedbugs found in downtown Vancouver courthouse

Bedbugs have been discovered in the provincial courthouse at 222 Main Street on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and those who work at the courthouse say the cleaning procedures may be to blame.

A pest control company discovered them Wednesday night in the barristers lounge, courtrooms 101, 102 and 307, as well as in the nearby Downtown Community Court.

Defence lawyer Chris Johnson says court services told him about the bedbugs in the lounge, as they were in the process of removing a couch.

"What we were told is it's the public areas of the courtroom, so the public should know that. It's not all the courtrooms as far as I am aware. But it's the three busiest courtrooms."

He says he and his colleagues all had the same initial reaction.

"People are pretty surprised by the whole thing, and disgusted actually."

Johnson says they have been trying to get court services to step up the cleaning in the courthouse for a long time.

"This building for some reason has a lower level of cleaning than, for example, the Supreme Court. I think it could use a higher level of that type of stuff, especially considering the kind of clientele that comes to this building."

Testing on judges' offices, Crown offices and the court registry are set for this weekend, and court services is hoping to take care of the problem after that.