There can't be many things worse than picking up a tummy bug while your on a camping trip. That's why hygiene matters so much in a tent.

Follow our advice to make sure you avoid any unpleasant surprises on your camping holidays.

• Store all foods in containers, preferably airtight, and keep raw and cooked foods separate.
• Use cupboards and avoid leaving food lying around where animals will get at it.
• With less room to prepare food you need to take extra care to avoid cross-contamination during preparation.
• Being outdoors, do your best to keep flies off food.
• Leaving your tent open all day is an invitation to insects, birds and wildlife to make themselves at home.
• Use the site bins and recycling points rather than let rubbish pile up at your pitch.
• Farm sites are fun but make sure everybody washes their hands after feeding and petting the animals.
• Do not assume that all tap water is fine to drink and never drink water from streams without treating it first.
• Try not to bring outdoor activity gear into your tent to avoid spreading muck and germs about.
• Keep an anti-bacterial gel handy when you’re cooking
• Wet wipes are really useful, especially the anti-bacterial versions, for surfaces, utensils and, of course, children.
• When you get home, give everything a thorough wash as soon as you can. It is definitely not fun to open a box on site to find mould on the contents.