A FAMILY are living in fear after their home was invaded by hundreds of the UK’s most venomous spiders.

Donna Harris and her family are terrified of the false widow spiders lurking in almost every crack and corner of their Rayleigh home.

Mrs Harris, 45, of Kestrel Grove, said the family has tried almost everything to get rid of the intruders, but nothing has worked.

In a nod to the blockbuster Hollywood film Arachnophobia, Mrs Harris’ 11-year-old daughter is now terrified of the eightlegged intruders.

Mrs Harris, 45, said: “I amworried about it because there is a lot of venom in them. We have a daughter aged 11 and a son, 16.

“My daughter now has a phobia of spiders and because of this, she panics when she sees one.

“When I first saw one in the bath it scared me. It has a strange pattern on its back, it looked like an alien. The next day there were a couple of hundred babies in the bathroom, they were everywhere.”

False widow spiders have gained a fearful reputation in recent years and their bites have led to people being hospitalised.

The family has called in pest control and been using sprays to get rid of them, but this hasn’t worked so they are looking for more ways to tackle the on-going problem.

The housewife added: “When we tell people about it they say they would have moved out by now. My husband went through five cans of spray at the weekend.

“It’s a worry because they aren’t normal spiders. It makes me feel uneasy. They are in the house, outside, everywhere.”

The family believes there is an outbreak of the spiders in the local area after hearing similar reports by neighbours and from the local pub.

Paul Harris, 44, an investment banker, added: “I believe the area has a serious problem with these spiders and they are continuously growing in numbers.

Last week I sprayed around our house, we have hundreds of them nesting in our garden and brick work.”

A spokesman for Rochford District Council said the species is not classed as a pest for it to deal with, but has offered to visit the family to identify them.