A PENSIONER from The Sands has warned walkers and gardeners to be wary of aggressive arachnids after she suffered a nasty bite from a suspected false widow spider.

Maureen Newcombe, 72, had just finished working in her woodland garden on Sunday, October 8, when she noticed a “nasty great red mark” on her leg which was rapidly getting larger.

Her leg became “extremely painful” and later that afternoon, Maureen went to Frimley Park A&E where a doctor told her she had most likely been bitten by a venomous false widow spider and prescribed antibiotics.

Her injury continued to get worse, however, and by Monday evening her whole lower leg was swollen and very painful.

After a further week of medical treatment, her symptoms finally began to improve on Monday this week - although Maureen still has a large lump on her leg which doctors say may take some time to reduce.

She would like to warn others to be on the lookout for the venomous arachnid, “not be an alarmist but to warn people and to get treatment as soon as possible”.

False widows are cited as Britain’s most venomous spiders, measuring approximately the size of a 50p piece, but experts say the species is not usually aggressive towards humans and that bites are rare.

Symptoms of a bite range from feelings of numbness, severe swelling and discomfort, to various levels of burning or chest pains. The severity of the symptoms depends on the amount of venom that was injected.

There have been no reported deaths from its bite in the UK.