A family has been left “deeply traumatised” after one of the world’s most poisonous and aggressive spiders was set loose in their south London home following an online delivery from Waitrose. A lethal Brazilian wandering spider had been hiding in a bunch of bananas when it was delivered to the house, and was sitting on a sac of eggs containing thousands of babies.

The father of the family, Tim, who did not give his surname, spotted the spider while unpacking the shopping and dropped the bananas into the fruit bowl in shock – inadvertently trapping the spider’s leg. The spider tore off its leg in an attempt to escape and hid from sight, sparking a frantic hunt throughout the home as the couple and their two sons, aged seven and eight, fled the house.

“Although people might think these things are funny, I keep thinking that the spider could have killed me or my son if he had gone to get a banana,” Tim told the Mail on Sunday.

Tim took a photograph and discovered online that the spider – whose Greek scientific name translates as “murderess” – was, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s most venomous.

The RSPCA said it could not handle such a dangerous animal and advised the couple to call the police. The police said they could not remove the spider, whose venom can kill in two hours.

Waitrose then sent a pest expert – but when he followed the couple into the kitchen, they found that the spider had ripped off its own leg and had moved out of sight. To make matters worse, when he lifted up the bananas, the family saw a sac containing hundreds of spider eggs.

“We had no idea where it had gone,” said Tim. “‘We were terrified. We got ourselves and our kids out of the house straight away.”

Pest expert Steve Trippett, who described the spider as “hardcore”, put the eggs in a freezer to kill them and, armed with a 3ft stick, found the spider hiding in the fruit bowl. The spider became aggressive standing on its back legs and showing its fangs. But using his stick, Trippett manoeuvred the creature into a heavy plastic box, which was placed inside two other boxes. It is understood the spider was taken to a scientific centre abroad.

The family were too traumatised by their experience to remain in the house, and spent the night with friends.

Waitrose offered the family £150 of shopping vouchers and a family day out in compensation. A spokesperson said: “The safety of our customers is our absolute priority. We did everything we could to look after our customer during what was a distressing incident and we’ve apologised personally. Although this is highly unusual, we’re taking it very seriously and will be working with our supplier to minimise the risk of this happening again.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Brazilian wandering spider is normally found in the tropical forests of South America. Photograph: Barry Turner / Alamy/Alamy

The Brazilian wandering spider is normally found in the tropical forests of South America, and has caused 14 reported deaths since 1926. At deadly concentrations, its venom causes loss of muscle control and breathing problems, and can result in paralysis and eventual asphyxiation.

Although its venom is highly toxic, it is being studied for use in erectile dysfunction treatments. The spider’s bite can cause an erection that sometimes lasts for up to four hours.

It is not the first time the killer spider has stowed away to Britain – last month a woman in Essex had to incinerate her hoover after finding eggs in bananas she bought from Tesco. In March, a family evacuated their Staffordshire home after finding hundreds of hatchlings, while last November, a Tesco store in Kent had to close for several hours after a Brazilian wandering spider was found under a box of bananas.