A MAN said he was left in “agony” after being bitten by a false widow spider as he sat on a bench in Bournemouth.

The man, who asked not to be named, said he felt a “sharp shock” to the back of the neck and was in pain for around seven days after being bitten.

Warning: picture of the spider bite below 

The incident occurred more than two weeks ago when he was sat on a bench in Fisherman’s Walk Park as he stopped to rest during a walk.

He told the Daily Echo: “I sat on one of the benches for a rest , felt a sharp shock to my back of neck , looked around thought I’d seen something fall down off the overgrown plants that had now started growing over the back of the benches. Within 24-hours I was in agony.”

He said the pain was so bad that after 48 hours he had to call the doctor and was prescribed antibiotics.

He added: “I was informed by the look of it and symptoms, I’d been bitten by a false widow spider. Now more than two weeks ago I’m still suffering with a bruised neck and still traces seeping from the bite.”

False widow spiders resemble black widows, and can inflict painful bites, but are generally not thought of as dangerous.

The British Arachnological Society says being bitten by a spider is “very unlikely” in this country under normal circumstances and likened it to that of a wasp or bee sting.

It adds: “A more serious problem is only likely to arise in the event of an allergic reaction, infection of the bite or if the person is already compromised by other health issues.”

The Steatoda Nobilis is the largest of the false widow species in the UK and the one mostly likely to come into your house.

In 2012, Catherine Coombs was bitten by a false widow spider as she lay sleeping in bed at her Lytchett Matravers home and woke up with a serious pain in her hand.

It soon swelled up dramatically and surgeons at Poole Hospital operated on her three times and she was warned she could lose her hand completely.