A CIRENCESTER father has hit out after buying a bunch of grapes from a town superstore and finding what he suspects was a poisonous spider lurking inside.

Shane McKenna bought the sealed packet from Cirencester's Lidl store and discovered the tiny spider nesting among the fruit.

Although small, The 29-year-old said he is certain it was a South African yellow sac spider, which are capable of delivering a painful nip. Lidl has since apologised for the incident.

"After eating a few of the grapes I noticed a weird, thick, spiders web," said Shane. "I saw a spider and it started moving so I flicked it instinctively and squashed it. I have two children, aged seven and three, who could have easily been bitten."

Shane reported the matter to Cotswold District Council and handed the fruit to the environment health office.

"I was massively scared for my kids. The second I found the spider, everything went straight outside. I was even worried that I should empty the fridge," he said.

A spokesman for CDC said the spider was in too poor a condition to be sure but that an entomologist had said the parts studied were consistent with a yellow sac spider.

He added that Lidl had carried out safety inspections and reviewed its examination procedure for the product at the port of entry into Europe.

Lidl spokesman Clare Norman said: "Although every care is taken to remove unwanted debris from products it appears that a spider found its way into the product undetected, for which we apologise."