They sneak into your roof cavity, pushing aside cladding to allow rats, mice and possums entrance, as well as wind-blown rain that may cause fungus and wood rot. They're the perfect nesting places for rats, too.

They may annihilate your sewage and water pipes, creeping into any tiny hole, making the hole large enough so they can invade the pipes, growing larger and larger till fluid will no longer pass, your taps run dry or gunk bubbles up your loo. (I hope you're not reading this at breakfast.)

They can devastate your foundations, lifting them and shifting them till your walls crack and the tendrils can slip inside. Worst of all they do this silently, more slowly and more secretly than any burglar. They can cover the best-loved trees in your garden, eventually killing them, or collapse

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