SPRAY COULD END OUR MIDGE MISERY AT LAST

Early next year, a spray that can cover an entire room in an anti-midge blanket will be available in the shops and a cream to protect tourists and outdoor workers and enthusiasts should follow a year later.

Researchers from Aberdeen University and Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, Herts, developed the repellent.

Scottish entomologist James Logan, of Rothamsted Research, said: “Some people are less likely to be attacked by midges and we wanted to find out why.

“We discovered that, of hundreds of human-derived volatile chemicals, two of them act together as a significant repellent.

“We still don’t know how or why people produce them, but when they are on the skin, midges will tend to turn the other way.”