The scourge literally eating away our nation's heritage

The rare furnishings and fabrics, including wool carpets and fine tapestries that adorn historic houses, are at risk from a rise in numbers of clothes moths, requiring an “ongoing battle” to keep the pests under control, English Heritage said.

As it opens up many of its historic houses and sites to the public after an annual spring clean, including Brodsworth Hall, near Doncaster, the heritage charity has revealed its conservation experts have seen the number of clothes moths double in the past five years.

And a new species, the pale backed clothes moth, has appeared for the first time in English Heritage clothes moth traps.

The charity is calling on members of the public to join “operation clothes moth” and help it measure the scale and scope of the threat. People visiting staffed English Heritage sites will be able to collect a clothes moth trap to put in their home and monitor the presence and type of moths there.

Participants can add their results to the English Heritage website, to help map the spread of clothes moths across England and help the charity decide where and how to concentrate conservation efforts.

English Heritage, which has been monitoring the spread of clothes moths since 1997 and now has monitors at more than 40 sites across England, is concerned that warmer weather has been boosting the pest.

Amber Xavier-Rowe, English Heritage’s head of collections conservation, said: “Clothes moths are a conservator’s worst nightmare and it’s an ongoing battle to keep them under control.”