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A colony of the world's most venomous spiders have been found crawling over bananas bought from a supermarket, it has been reported.

A mother has told of her horror after spotting "dozens" of the deadly Brazilian wandering spiders on the skin of the fruit at her home in London.

Consi Taylor told The Sun that what she thought was mould on the fruit turned out to be spiders crawling over its skin.

She told the newspaper: "I thought it was mould but when I had a closer look I saw some funny looking spots.

"I had a closer look and was horrified to see they were spiders. They were hatching out on the table, scurrying around on my carpet."

Taylor, 29, claims she bought the fruit from a branch of Sainsbury's and that she was initially offered a £10 voucher in compensation.

She said she only realised the danger she and her family were in when she sent a picture of the spiders to a pest control company and was told to evacuate their home.

Brazilian wandering spiders are found in South and Central America and are known to hide in banana plants and a wide range of other places.

The spider's venom can cause breathing problems, paralysis and eventual asphyxiation.

The Sun reports that Sainsbury's paid for the Taylors' home to be fumigated and for the family to stay in a hotel while this was carried out.

The supermarket said: "We're very sorry and have apologised to Mr and Mrs Taylor.

"We do have rigorous controls on imported products at all stages - from harvesting to transportation - which is why this is so rare."

Note: We previously used a picture of a Chiquita banana on this story - the fruit containing the spiders was not from that company.