A spider presumed extinct in Britain for almost half a century has been spotted by National Trust rangers.

The tiny diamond spider, which measures just 7mm in length was last seen in the UK in 1969, and conservationists feared that habitat lost had killed off the species.

However two National Trust volunteers were astonished to find the rare arachnid while while carrying out ecological monitoring of heathland at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire.

The spider has only been recorded in the UK on three occasions, all of them in the South of England, and none since the 1960s.

Lucy Stockton, who made the discovery with fellow volunteer Trevor Harris, said: “The spider ran away from me twice but with persistence and some luck I caught it.

"At the time I had no idea that it would turn out to be such a rare find. Upon closer inspection our spider had a conspicuous ‘cardiac mark’, a black diamond shape on its abdomen, edged with white that helped us to identify it.

“We were thrilled to have discovered this new resident of Clumber Park and to prove that this species is definitely not extinct in the UK.”