MUM Vicki Bell got more than she bargained for after she bought a bunch of bananas - she came face to face with a deadly spider.

Mrs Bell spotted the black widow in a bunch of bananas she had bought from a Weymouth greengrocer.

The spider, which is slightly bigger than a 50 pence piece, made its appearance after she had rummaged in the bag on two separate occasions to take out a couple of bananas.

Female black widows are deadly and their bite could kill a small child or an elderly person but Mrs Bell, who is a self-confessed spider fan, said she is delighted to have been so near to the infamous arachnid.

And she said she felt lucky to have had the experience of seeing one.

Mrs Bell, 36, an aromatherapist of Stania Road, Preston, added: "I'm not at all frightened by spiders, in fact I really like them.

"But I thought I had better not pick it up so I used a spoon to pop it into a plastic tub with airholes. It was only when a friend consulted a book on spiders that we realised it was a black widow."

She added: "The book said they are shy creatures and only bite people who disturb them or put their hands near them.

"This made me shiver slightly as that is exactly what I was doing, rummaging around in the bag of bananas.

"But now I feel quite lucky to have actually seen a black widow."

After finding the deadly spider Mrs Bell contacted the police who called in Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

Animal collection officer with the RSPCA, Russell Jarman, who has a special interest in exotic spiders and animals, said: "When she said it was a small black spider with a red triangle on its back, alarm bells did start ringing.

"When I saw it I was 99 per cent sure it was a black widow. I took it home and fed it and after a number of phone calls have secured a new home for it at Bristol Zoo."

The RSPCA has warned that a special dangerous wild animals licence is needed to keep black widow spiders in Britain.