I closed down my wedding dress shop FOREVER after I found a huge SPIDER running wild… I couldn’t sleep
A WEDDING dress shop owner has vowed to shut her store FOREVER after finding a huge spider roaming wild inside.
Belinda Blanshard, 47, said it was "a normal day" before she caught the eight-legged critter crawling around her window display in Stockport, Greater Manchester, last week.
The mum-of-four, who owns Love Lace Bridal Boutique, said "the animal" was so big you would have "heard it walking" had it have been on the floor.
She has also been unable to sleep since and after five years of trading, the businesswoman is set to shut her shop for personal reasons - the spider being one of them.
"This spider appearing makes me think this was the right time, it was the final straw," she said.
"Done and dusted, I'm now leaving. We've got a massive closing down sale this month.
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"Whoever gets the shop after us can deal with all the monsters down in the cellar."
Pictures show the spider hanging from a white drape in the window, lurking in the shadows.
Belinda said it was the size of her hand, with a frame so large it could have been "wearing one of the dresses".
She does not know what breed the critter was - although she has been told it may have been a giant house spider.
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And of her trauma, Belinda said: "I've not slept since, I'm not joking.
"I don't even like going down to the cellar in the shop, now I'm aware that there are spiders down there.
"It's making my skin crawl going down there to get a dress. I've been shaking every dress for each appointment this week."
She added: "No word of a lie, if it had been on the floor you would have been able to hear it walking. I've never been so frightened of an animal in my life.
"I didn't give it permission to be in my shop and it certainly didn't have an appointment."
If it had been on the floor you would have been able to hear it walking. I've never been so frightened of an animal in my life.
Belinda Blanshard
After the initial shock of finding the unwelcome guest, Belinda raced to the shop door to call for help.
She said the spider would have been "too big" to shift herself and knew she needed back up.
Thankfully, a passer-by was able to assist, with Belinda explaining: "He walked in, took one look at it and went 'bloody hell, that's massive!'
"I retrieved him a big glass and handed it to him. I watched him remove it - I needed to make sure it vacated the building.
"He took it all the way around the back and put it in some bushes. I wanted it as far away from the shop as possible, I didn't want it knocking on the door trying to get back in.
"That glass went straight in the bin afterwards, I wasn't going to be drinking out of it."
She added: "We've had the shop for just over five years, it's mainly personal reasons that we're closing.
"I had a few brides who came in that day saying 'is it still here?' once I told them.
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"I said 'no, I wouldn't be here if it still was. I'd have cancelled the appointments'."
It's understood the spider was removed safely without harm.
