ARACHNOPHOBES beware – spider season is here.

Sex-crazed house spiders are invading living rooms hunting for mates, daddy long-legs are frantically trying to find hot dates on windowsills and Oxford residents have been seeing a lot more of the UK's most notorious arachnid – the false widow.

After we reported that a Witney couple discovered a family of the UK's most venomous spiders in their conservatory, we were flooded with calls from others who have discovered the arachnids in their homes and gardens.

Cowley resident Rocky Tampin, who is allergic to insect stings, said he was nipped on the finger by a false widow and his right hand swelled to twice its normal size.

The 58-year-old, who was doing a spot of gardening when he was attacked, said: "I had my hand on top of the fence then wallop! whack!

"I thought it was a bee sting and I used the Wasp-Eze spray but it didn't do a thing.

"Overnight I hardly slept a wink and my hand felt like it was on fire. In the morning it was twice the size."

The next day he drove himself to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

He said: "I saw this doctor who said 'you've not been stung – you've been bitten by a false widow spider'."

Mr Tampin took a course of antibiotics and the swelling eventually reduced.

He added: "It hasn't made me scared to go back into the garden but it will make me wear a pair of gloves in future."

Several UK spiders can deliver a painful bite, but the most common culprit is the false widow – Steatoda nobilis – the UK’s most venomous spider.

For most people the bite would be little different to a bee sting, and it is not dangerous unless you normally have bad reactions to insect bites and stings.

The species, thought to have been introduced from mainland Europe about 100 years ago, has been well-established along the south coast for decades, but in the last few years it has increasingly moved further north.

Robin Hunt of Botley said he has been living with a family of false widows for three or four years, but he said 2016 had been a "bumper year".

Cotswold Wildlife Park invertebrate keeper James Headleand confirmed that it is indeed spider mating season.

He said: "It is that time of year when you get big, big house spiders, the ones which run across the living room floor and come out of the cupboards to say hello.

"It's dry and a good temperature in the house, that attracts the females and the ones that come flying out from under the sofa are the males playing kiss-chase."

But he insisted: "House spiders are brilliant, they're really good at keeping the flies at bay."

Mr Headleand also said false widows were "beautiful creatures" which were no more dangerous than bees or wasps.

He added: "If they're really bother you then get them in a cup and chuck them out in the garden.

"Personally I think they're beautiful."