WATCHING celebrities munch on bugs in the jungle always makes me feel slightly ill.

But when I heard that a Bournemouth sweetshop was selling oven-baked tarantula, chocolatecoated black ants and scorpion lollypops I accepted a challenge to complete my very own bushtucker trial.

Jeremy Paine, owner of Sweetcity in the Burlington Arcade, says the current series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here is inspiring people to buy them for Christmas parties.

The tarantulas are proving particularly popular and he is currently down to his last one.

Heading back to the office with my bagful of strange snacks my stomach is already churning.

I decide to plunge in at the deep end and try the £12.50 oven-baked tarantula. I tentatively put a spider leg in my mouth and start to chew. It is crunchy and salty – like eating crisps.

The slightly-chewy body has quite a distinctive flavour – reminding me of when as a child I bit into a strawberry with a grub inside it.

Next on the menu are the £4.50 chocolate ants. The chocolate part is quite nice but grossly I have to floss the black bits of ant out of my teeth afterwards.

And the scorpion candy? A bit like very ripe popcorn chicken.

After finishing the final mouthful I head straight for the bathroom.

Would I swap traditional sweets for insect snacks? Not a chance.

Jeremy said: “I’ve been selling them for five or six years but have only been selling the tarantulas for three months. I sell a couple a week.

“There’s a lot of protein in insects and they are a delicacy in Cambodia where they fry them.”

For those who prefer something more traditional the shop is also selling giant 700g strawberry lollypops, spreadable marshmallow and American Twinkies.