A nursery was closed for a week after one of the world's deadliest spiders was found in a bunch of bananas.
Lessons were cancelled at St John's RC Primary School nursery, in Rochdale, when the wandering spider escaped from a packet of fruit, which came from Colombia.
Lessons were cancelled after teaching assistant Loretta Osunkwo was stunned when the spider leapt out and landed on her chest before crawling away.
Staff were advised by pest control officials to close the building until it was found.
The Colombian banana spider is the most toxic in the world according to the Guinness World Records.
Just one of its poisonous bites can cause extreme pain and inflammation, loss of muscle control, paralysis and even asphyxiation.
Headteacher Jed Morgan said: "We didn't know if there were any other eggs in there so we immediately put the bunch into a bag and sealed it up.
"We got the pest controllers in and they advised that we should close the nursery.
"Ultimately it was my decision and I had to put the safety of the children first so we closed until the spider was found.
"It was certainly an unusual incident and I never would have believed it if someone had told me what was going to happen in advance."
Luckily, the spider was found dead on Wednesday before being sent to a lab and the nursery re-opened .
Mr Morgan added: "I hope it might serve as a warning for other people to be vigilant when they are opening up their fruit. It's certainly put me off bananas for a while."