A PENSIONER found a black Egyptian spider in a box of grapes he bought from an Accrington supermarket.

Richard Harvey-Morgan, 72, is now the proud owner of an eight-legged pet which jumped from his fruit snack onto his hand.

Richard, who lives in Barns Avenue, has now adopted the spider, which is believed to be non-poisonous and from Egypt.

He said: “I was sitting in front of the television picking at the grapes when, all of a sudden, this spider jumped onto my hand and ran up my arm and down the other side.

"I have no fear of spiders whatsoever, so I was fine.

“It must have been living at the bottom of the box quite happily I imagine, until it got hungry.

“I put him into a plastic container where I am feeding him greenfly from my plants, which he is really making a meal of.”

Mr Harvey-Morgan bought the grapes, which were imported from Egypt, at the Aldi store, in Accrington.

There are 385 species of venomous spiders that have been recorded in Egypt.

Jenny Dobson, of The Bug Experience Project in Liverpool, currently owns more than 40 spiders and is an expert on insects and bugs.

She said: ”I would advise him to be very careful with the spider as if it is anything nasty it could make him very ill.

"If he is looking to re-home the spider my collection would be willing to take it.”

Africa-based Dr Dave Penney, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, specialises in arachnids.

He said: “This is almost certainly a member of the family Araneidae which are orb weaving spiders and closely related to our common garden spider Araneus diadematus.

“It will not be a dangerous species, though Black Widows are often transported in grapes, but this does not look like one of those.”

A spokesperson from Aldi said the company was investigating the incident, but did not want to comment until the investigations were complete.