Tony Newell and his wife Linda found a strange spider in a pack of seedless mixed grapes bought from Morrisons, Aylesbury.

Mrs Newell explained: "As I picked up some of the bunch of grapes I saw a tiny little black thing which looked like it was in a ball and then it just fell down into the punnet.

"As I watched it was crawling. That was when I completely lost the plot.

"I did not know what to do because I was so frightened.

"It was the not knowing what it was, if it is poisonous or not, or if it could have bitten me or not.

"I have heard a report of a woman who found a black widow spider in her grapes.

"I have never seen one of these spiders before.

"I would not have minded if it was a domestic spider like you find around the house."

The couple called the store after finding it and although they received a verbal apology they were not happy with the advice they were given - which was to put it in the freezer and then take it in to the store where they would dispose of it.

Experts at the British BUGS Section of the Zoological Society of London confirmed the creature was a male European black widow, also called Latrodectus tredecimguttatus.

It is black in colour, similar to most other widow species, and is identified by the 13 spots which are found on its dorsal abdomen.
The Mediterranean widow primarily lives in grasslands.

Like all of the species it has a bite which is venomous and can be, but rarely is, fatal to humans.

A Morrisons spokesperson said: "The quality and safety of all the products we sell is of paramount importance to us.

"We urge the customer to return the product and foreign body to the store or our head office so we can carry out a thorough investigation and resolve this matter."

Staff at St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, Haddenham say that if the couple brought the insect in they would do their best to find it a happy home.