Burning the house down might be a bit extreme, but the arrival of a tube web spider in Larkfield this week prompted mixed reactions among residents.

“Just found this bad boy outside our kitchen window in Marlowe Road,” posted Malcolm Harrison on Facebook. “It's poisonous apparently - a tube web spider. Just a heads up in case anyone else finds one.”

An impressive beast – as far as UK spiders go – the tube web spider can grow up to 22mm and is one of the only species in Britain with fangs capable of piercing human skin.

It’s also known to be aggressive, particularly in reaction to anything approaching its tunnel home – but that’s about as scary as it gets, because while the tube web spider can deliver a painful bite, it won’t cause any serious harm.

It’s fair to say not many in Larkfield were keen on testing it out though.

“Burn the house down,” posted on commentator, while other reactions included: “I can’t even look at this photo!” and “that is absolutely terrifying.”

Nevertheless, while the tube web spider is a rare sight, it’s not unheard of, and the spiders have been spotted in the area and around Kent before, with the species generally only found in parts of southern Britain.

“I’ve got three in my garage,” responded another to the post. “I just leave them to do what they’ve got to do,” while another added: “Last summer we had two fall out of the walls in our back garden.. they’re huge things even heard the noise as it thud on the floor.”

However rare or common the spiders are, Malcolm’s wife Jo was not impressed with the newcomer.

“He sent a picture of it to me when I was at work,” she said. “I said can you get rid of it. I got home from the school run with my daughter, who’s nine, and she wasn’t very happy to see it. I got home from work and it was still there. I think he was scared it was going to bite.

“It’s at the back of the house near the kitchen – our daughter’s bedroom is above it and she was paranoid it was going to climb through.

“Most people would have moved out of the house by now. People are saying you need to burn the house down!”

“I’ve never seen them before – it looks about the size of a big stag beetle. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“This morning the kids were going to school and they had to run past.”​

Whether or not the Harrison family decide to let their new arrival stay remains to be seen, but KentOnline declined their invitation to offer it a new home.

“Have you seen the film Arachnophobia?” added Malcolm. “I might have to buy a nail gun.”