A computer generated image of the Paramount Entertainment complex and other attractions on Swanscombe Peninsula

A giant new £2bn theme park to rival Disneyland Paris can't get off the drawing board before a colony of rare spiders is removed.

Developers say the Paramount scheme will be the third biggest theme park in the world and twice the size of the Olympic Park.

It will create 27,000 jobs and it set to be completed by 2019.

But an environmental audit of the 872-acre brownfield site in the Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent has found it is home to distinguished jumping spiders.

They are found on only two sites in the UK and are on a biodiversity priority species list.

The spiders are one of few creatures that like the alkaline land created from the cement kiln dust produced by the former works on the site to the east of the Dartford Crossing.

London Resort Company Holdings, the consortium behind the themepark will now have to find a new home for the colony.

Tony Sefton, project director for LRCH, said there are plans to create a 27-acre wetland wildlife park on the site.

He said: "We will look after the spiders. We're doing a good thing.

"The alkaline land is dreadful for most forms of wildlife. But there is this particular spider that likes very alkaline conditions."

Project director Tony Sefton

He said LRCH hope to find a solution similar to that reached at the London 2012 Olympic Park where species found during development were moved to a wildlife sanctuary.

Dartford Borough Council leader Jeremy Kite (pictured below) said there are solutions to preserving unusual species.

He said: "In the past we've moved fish, we've sent voles away on holiday; it's fairly common and protects them from building works.

"Then when they're finished they're brought back."

The only other UK home for distinguished jumping spiders, which have the Latin name sitticus distinguendus, are the West Thurrock marshes in Essex.

Both habitats are brownfield sites, or previously developed land.

The spiders are on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species list, but the list is not legally binding.

This means the Joint Nature Conservation Committee have deemed the species is threatened and one that requires conservation action.

There is currently no law preventing developers building on the rare spiders' home although there is a proposal for the species to added to the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

There are 37 types of jumping spider in the UK, but worldwide it is the largest spider family containing over five thousand species.

They have a very large front pair of eyes, and are thought to possess the best vision for an invertebrate after cephalopods - octopus and relatives.

This vision, along with an ability to jump, allows them to actively hunt their prey during the day.

Their keen eyesight also plays a part in courtship, where males can undertake elaborate dances to woo a female.

The Paramount scheme, supported by Paramount Pictures, aims to create Europe's largest indoor water park with theatres, live music venues, attractions, cinemas, restaurants, and hotels.