Crabzilla has feeding arms more than five ft long

A Japanese spider crab believed to be the biggest ever seen in Britain is set to go on show at Birmingham's National Sea Life Centre.

Dubbed Crabzilla, his front feeding limbs are more than 5ft (1.5m) long and end in big claws.

The Sea Life Centre will be his home until the end of March when he will be taken to his permanent home in Belgium.

The crabs are commonly found in the Pacific in 1,000 ft (300m) deep waters but have been known to live deeper.

Curator Graham Burrows said: "It is rumoured these crabs can grow as big as four metres, big enough to straddle a car.

"He will absolutely dwarf the other crabs in there, but he's not aggressive and they should have nothing to worry about."

The crustacean has been flown to the UK en route to a permanent home in Belgium from Japan and has been quarantined in Dorset.