So it might be on one of your five a day, but a mum-of-two probably won’t be buying bananas again after her latest encounter.

 

Maria Layton bought a piece of fruit for her six-year old daughter when she saw a cocoon in the banana… housing Brazilian wandering spiders.

 

The 43-year old told hold she managed to discover the banana cocoon, telling the Huffington Post:

 

"The first banana had a funny bit on it, so I got another one for her and that was when I found the massive spider cocoon. There was a spider web on the other bananas too.

 

"I recognised it because I remembered seeing a news story about them, so when I saw the cocoon it rang a bell and I thought I should check it so I googled it.

"I went through the images and there was an image which looked very similar to mine. I was so scared - I don't like spiders at the best of times, but have read about the Brazilian Wandering Spiders - and was very frightened about the potential threat.”

Panicking about the cocoon unwinding, Maria threw the bananas into the freezer:

"The spider cocoon started to unfurl so I put it in a sealed box and put it in the freezer as I read that that is supposed to kill them.”

After contacting Tesco customer services, she was told to return the bananas (with the spiders) to the store for a refund. She said she was offered no apology:

"I was shocked, they failed to see the potential threat to me and my family and thought I was only interested in having a pound or so back.

"I spent an hour-and-a-half ringing round trying to get some help - while I had this potentially killer spider in the house."

Story via Huffington Post