'Deadly' spider forces Crosby family from home
A spider found in a bunch of bananas forced a Merseyside family to leave their home after they learnt it could be one the world's most poisonous.
Mandy and Darryl Ryan and their three young children moved out of their house in Crosby for eight days.
Mrs Ryan thought the spider was dead and before it ran off she took a photo of it. The picture showed it could be a deadly Brazilian wandering spider.
The family moved back in after Mr Ryan trapped it in a sandwich box.
He wore protective gloves and used a small mirror to look behind kitchen units at the family home on College Road North.
After setting sticky insect traps, the spider was found alive in the dishwasher.
Mrs Ryan said: "I brought the shopping home and noticed in a little bag of bananas that it was all black.
"It looked like one had rotted, so I opened the bag and the spider was sitting on top.
"I thought it was dead so I took a few photos of it. Then all of a sudden it jumped over my hand.
"I tried to catch it with a glass but it escaped into the dishwasher."
The spider is to be passed on to a pet shop which specialises in spiders and lizards.