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Student Melissa North revealed that her fear of the dairy product is so bad that she AVOIDS the cheese counter in the supermarket and looking at it is enough to bring her out in a cold sweat.

The 22-year-old, from Herne Bay, Kent, revealed: "Walking past a deli counter in a supermarket is really difficult for me.

"I get so clammy and start to have a panic attack.

"It just looks awful – so gooey and disgusting – it makes me feel sick...

"Touching or eating cheese for me is like someone who is scared of spiders holding a tarantula. It's terrifying."

Melissa insists her fear blights her everyday life, but her family and friends think it's "hilarious" and tease her endlessly over it.

She said: "My boyfriend is always making fun of me.

"He will chase me around the house with a block of cheese in his hand but I just go into a state of panic.

"I just have to lock myself in the bathroom until he gets bored.

"He is supportive of me but it's hard to explain how much I hate it."

A recent ordeal involved her flatmate smearing cheese all over her door, leaving a trail of cheese outside so she couldn't enter her bedroom.

Melissa's fear – named Turophobia – developed when she was given cheese on toast as a child, something she immediately knew she didn't want.

She added: "It tasted horrible but my parents had always taught me to finish what was on my plate – I didn't want to be rude so I had no choice but to eat it.

"It just tasted disgusting and I've been afraid of it ever since."

Her phobia has got worse in recent years, with one particular incident being a trigger.

She revealed: "My friends at school all knew about my cheese phobia and thought it would be fun to throw some cheese at me as a joke.

"It was cream cheese and it landed right in my face.

"I just fell to the floor and crawled out of the class room crying.

"I went to the toilets but was in too much of a state to clean it off.

"I was panicking and crying and I could just feel this horrible sticky cheese all over my face.

"My friend eventually managed to calm me down and clean me up but it was a horrendous experience."

Soft cheese and blue cheese are now her top two most feared and Melissa says she "struggles to hold it together" when faced with the products in the supermarket.

Phobia's by their definition are irrational and despite the bizarre fear, experts say it is not unusual.

Dave Smithson, Services Coordinator at Anxiety UK, said that therapy can help people like Melissa overcome their fear.

He added: "For a lot of people phobias are a life long problem, as they do not realise what help they can be given."

Melissa is aware that her fear seems strange to some, adding: "I'd love not to be able to be so afraid of it, but I'm terrified."