A Strood housewife who was bitten on the foot by a false widow spider is still being treated in hospital.

Alison Blackburn was bitten by the most venomous spider in Britain as she lay in bed at home in Bryant Road and ended up needing an operation to drain the spider's venom from her foot.

The 49-year-old was initially discharged and returned home, but failed to make a full recovery and returned to hospital to see specialists on January 20 - and she has been there ever since.

"Things aren't going that well," she said. "I keep fainting and I still feel ill. They haven't got an idea what's wrong.

"I'm having blood tests every day and I need a CT scan.

"Until someone dies they aren't going to take any notice..." - Alison Blackburn

"My temperature and blood pressure keeps going from high to low and I'm not allowed to get out of bed in case the poison runs around my body.

"It's worrying because no one's giving me an answer."

Mrs Blackburn, who was bitten on January 10, is not the only victim of a false widow spider in recent weeks.

In Enfield, north London, teenager Stephanie Georgiou is recovering from three operations after she was bitten on the hand by a false widow at the start of the month.

Mrs Blackburn insists something must be done to stop the spiders wreaking more havoc.

"Until someone dies they aren't going to take any notice," she said.

"They need to find an antidote and get rid of them. They need to find something that's going to kill them.

"They're breeding so quickly – people should report it every time one is seen and every time someone gets bitten."