Deadly spider discovered in Gloucester

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A pensioner in Gloucester thinks he may have stumbled on a deadly, poisonous funnel-web spider living in his garden shed.

71-year-old Les Fryer spotted the nasty looking arachnid eating a moth near his shed door as he went to fetch his lawnmower. The plucky pensioner quickly ran indoors and grabbed his video camera so he could get some footage of the dangerous wee beastie and try to identify it. On top of the description of the eight-legged monster itself Mr Fryer also came across the classic funnel shaped web which the spider uses for a home.

Spider experts are currently examining the footage to determine if the 1.5 inch critter is indeed a deadly funnel-web which are only native to Australia and can kill within hours of biting their victim. If the sighting is confirmed it would be the first funnel-web to be found in Britain, and most likely an escaped pet.

This is the third sighting of an exotic arachnid roaming the British countryside in the past few weeks.