Man finds 60 venomous false widow spiders in his property after his greenhouse turned into a rainforest

A HORRIFIED homeowner was given the fright of his life when he found around 60 false widow spiders in his garden after his greenhouse turned into a rainforest.

Paul Harry had been clearing junk from his property at his home in Mumbles, Swansea when he came across a series of what he believes to be a gang of the creepy crawlies.

The false widow, a relative of the deadly black widow, is the only venomous spider native to the UK.

Paul revealed that he discovered the dangerous web-slingers in his greenhouse which had turned into a makeshift rainforest.

He said: “The field is at the back of the house and is overgrown with a lot of junk in it.

“I found some old asbestos sheets that were leaning against some sheets of glass basically turning it into a greenhouse of sorts.

“It provided the ideal environment for them to breed due to the heat. When I moved them I saw about 60 big spiders.

"At first I thought that they were brown house spiders but upon closer inspection they looked far nastier than that.”

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He added: “The biggest one was about three inches wide and it’s back was like a skull.

“I know a lot about wildlife but when I looked them up I knew they were false widow spiders.”

The spiders have a round, brown body and cream coloured markings and are venomous.

They have long legs and can reach about 15mm in size.

And while bite has been compared to a wasp sting some victims experience intense pain radiating from the bite.

The potentially dangerous bites can also cause fever, nausea, headache, malaise, lethargy and even chest pains.

But, despite the potential for severe symptoms there has never been a death attributed to a false widow bite in the UK.

The spiders have now been drowned.

Millions of false widows, Britain’s most venomous spider, have been found across the UK and the population is believed to be growing.

Also known as steatoda nobilis, the spider is frequently confused for the black widow, which has deadly venom.

The false widow was first spotted in the UK in Torquay, Devon, in 1879, and it is understood that it may have made its way to these shores from Madeira or the Canary Islands in a shipment of bananas.

The Natural History Museum says that warmer summers mean the spider is spreading northwards through the UK, although they are found mainly in southern England.

Earlier this month, a dad was left fighting for life after being bitten by a spider – thought to be a false widow – hiding in a bunch of bananas.

Paul Jory, 59, said the poison from the three-inch arachnid spread a flesh-eating infection up his right arm.

Medics had to put him in an induced coma for a week and cut off chunks of flesh to extract the venom.

Paul endured eight operations, reconstructive surgery and now has a giant scar running round his bicep.

He said: “It wasn’t a nice spider — it had danger ­tattooed on its forehead.

“When it bit me, it was really painful like a shock all over my body.

“My arm started swelling up. It was like a golf ball.

“I got a taxi to A&E and when the receptionist saw how bad I was she got a doctor. That’s the last thing I remember. They put me in a coma.”

He spent five weeks in Watford General Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital in London.

Specialists were able to save his arm but he has to learn how to use it again as he was left with just 40 per cent movement.

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