Shopper's 'shock horror' after finding huntsman spider in pack of Tesco bananas
A shopper has had the fright of his life after discovering a huntsman spider in his bag of Tesco bananas.
Craig Harrison, 35, an IT worker from Windsor, had already eaten one of the bananas when he noticed the female spider clutching a sack that could contain around 200 eggs.
The huntsman spider is one of the largest in the world and can have a leg span of up to half a foot.
Harrison said he was in "shock" when he saw the spider and stumbled backwards losing his balance.
He said he was disgusted when he found a "scary and evil-looking" egg sac.
Harrison said: "I don't think I've ever had a shock horror reaction like it before, I was completely gobsmacked to discover it.
"I had no idea the package I picked up in store had a Huntsman spider hidden inside, the spider had been nestled between the bananas out of sight, clutching onto its egg sac. The bag wasn't fully transparent, which obscured any view of it.
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"I opened the bag at home, ripped off and ate a banana oblivious to the spider being right there in the bag. It was only afterwards, when the bag was moved, that it crawled down the bananas and gave me the fright of my life.
"I don't consider myself to have a spider phobia, generally. This one was in a completely different league though!"
In a bid for compensation, Craig had to manoeuvre the eight-legged monster into a Tupperware box to be sent off to the supermarket's pest control service.
Harrison said he had not decided if he should accept the £100 gift voucher the supermarket offered.
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The London Zoological Society identified it as a huntsman from the Dominican Republic.
The grocery giant apologised to Harrison and told The Sun: "We have robust processes to prevent spiders travelling with our fruit but on very rare occasions they can sometimes sneak through."
