A thrift store volunteer was left horrified after a swarm of bed bugs scuttled up her arm and bit her as she opened a donated bag.

The resulting infestation forced the Daylesford Community Op Shop in Victoria to close and throw away thousands of dollars’ worth of stock, according to the ABC.

The volunteer was inspecting a donated bag which was believed to contain fabric when the bugs beset her.

“She didn’t even get a chance to put her hands in the bag when they ran up her arm,” said fellow volunteer Michelle Clifford, adding the woman was traumatised and had been bitten “everywhere”.

Bed bugs are tiny, reddish-brown insects known to live in dark spaces like mattress seams and furniture.

They survive by feeding on blood from humans and animals and, while they cannot fly, they have been seen crawling over surfaces at high speed.

“They don’t just bite and fall off,” Clifford said.

“They stay and then, once they finish gorging, they hide in clothing, bedding, couches, you name it, and then they breed.”

The volunteer was inspecting a donated bag which was believed to contain fabric when the bugs beset her. Photo / File

After the bed bugs were discovered, opshop staff quickly closed the store before tending to their skin with eucalyptus oil and other treatments.

Clifford told the ABC more than $3000 ($3470) had been spent on deep-cleaning the building and many thousands of dollars’ worth of stock had to be destroyed.

“It’s horrendous, heinous and abhorrent,” she said.

“We organised washroom services and hazard-clean crews who were all in [hazmat] suits.”

Clifford also said there were worries the infested item may have been donated deliberately because bugs appeared to be mature.

“There were adult [bugs] running up her arm,” she said.

“If they didn’t know, it would have just been eggs in there that wouldn’t have hatched.

“I’m trying to remain on the positive side and think they didn’t know, or that they donated it out of desperation, that they didn’t know how to get rid of it.”

Clifford said two more deep cleans would need to be carried out before the store could be deemed safe to reopen, a process that could drag out over ten days.

However, the high cleaning costs and loss of stock have left the future of the community store in jeopardy, she added.

“We are the only op shop in the shire that is 100% volunteer run and 100% of the profits stays in the community.

“There’s not a single person in our community that can’t access low-cost clothing or a voucher system with us.”

The store planned to run a sausage sizzle on the weekend to raise funds.