WHEN a spider bit Amber Lockyer just before she bathed her daughter, she feared the worst.

Getting the bath ready for two-year-old Ana, Mrs Lockyer, also mum to Nathan, five, felt what she described as a "bee sting" and was horrified to see what appeared to be a Black Widow in the tub.

The worried receptionist, who works at Twyford doctors' surgery, called NHS Direct, last Thursday morning. They were unable to identify the spider, but told her to take it to Marwell Zoo.

Luckily, Geoff Read, from the tropical section at the zoo, allayed her fears when he identified it as a Steatoda, a close - but harmless - relative of the notorious arachnid.

Mrs Lockyer, 32, who lives in Eastleigh, said: "I thought I'd better get it checked out. It felt like a bee sting and came up in a blister.

"It had a fatter body than a normal spider. It was about the size of a 50p piece."

Known as a False Black Widow, the Steatoda is believed to be the only one of Britain's 640 spider species that bites humans.

Mrs Lockyer said she and husband David were regularly visited by relatives and friends from Australia and India, which made her more aware of the spider's potential threat.

She added: "I was worried because you don't normally expect to be bitten, and then it feel like a bee's stung you."