SUPERMARKET CREEP
Terrifying false widow spider filmed crawling in Morrisons after dropping from ceiling in front of horrified shoppers
A SHOPPER was left terrified after spotting a venomous spider scuttling through Morrisons.
The noble false widow spider, that chomps on human flesh, was seen dropping from a vent in the supermarket’s ceiling.
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The arachnophobe, who wishes to remain anonymous, is now "extremely" anxious to shop in the store - as he feared it could be overrun with the tiny beasts.
He said: “As I was going past the tills it literally appeared about a foot in front of my face.
“I was quite taken aback by it.
“I noticed it wasn’t a particularly friendly spider, because it looked like one I had been bitten by before.”
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The man had previously been bitten by a false widow, leaving him with a sore and painful pus-seeping wound.
He had to undergo two courses of antibiotics after receiving a nasty infection - taking him nearly two months to recover.
Once the shopper made the shocking discovery, he told both in-store staff at the supermarket in Northampton, Northants and head office staff.
He was then reassured by a male shop manager that the store would contact Rentokil.
Morrisons have since acknowledged the spider was found in their store with a spokesperson saying: “This noble false widow is a harmless native British spider commonly found in homes across the UK.”
False widows are one of the UK’s only venomous spiders and are most commonly seen in autumn.
However, earlier in the year there were reports of false widows being driven into homes as a result of the summer heatwave.
One suspected false widow victim ended up with a horrendous flesh-eating wound – five months after being bitten.
In 2018, two east London schools were evacuated following an infestation.
Research from the National University of Ireland suggests they are much less dangerous than their lookalikes, black widows, although their bites can be sore, itchy, swollen and in some cases even lead to hospitalisation.
Pest control expert Jonathan Ratcliffe of Pest.co.uk explained: “The false widow might look super scary but they are usually not aggressive and don’t usually pose a problem.
“If you happen to get bitten it’s like a wasp sting. September and October is when they come inside for warmth.
“You can use a hoover to suck the spider up and dispose into an outside bin”.
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