A two-year-old boy has been left temporarily paralysedafter reportedly being bitten by spider hiding in a banana bunch.
Evan Waters spent two days in hospital after being bitten on the fingers by the spider, which his mother claims emanated from a bag of Aldi bananas.
It is claimed that he was attacked by the creature as he was eating the fruit at his home in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.
The Daily Mirrorreported that he was rushed to hospital - 'screaming in agony' - by his horrified mother after his right hand swelled 'like a balloon', and became 'paralysed'.
Waters' parents claim that the toddler spent two days in hospital, where doctors gave him antibiotics for the spider bite, before finally being allowed home.
Aldi has since apologised for the incident, and offered Waters and his family four free hampers and £400 in cash.
It remains unclear what type of spider bit the youngster, but his family believe it may have been a Tarantula, a Black Widow or a Huntsman spider.
The creature is thought to have crept into a box of the budget supermarket chain's 'worldwide' range of bananas while it was awaiting shipment to the UK from a warehouse.
The youngster's mother, Kellie Knight - who claims that she bought the bunch of bananas from a local Aldi two weeks ago - described the 'terrifying moment' she realised her son had been bitten by a spider.
She told the Mirror: 'It was horrifying to think my boy was hospitalised because of a spider hiding in the bananas. It was absolutely terrifying.
'The spider had already scurried away when we heard Evan screaming. But his hand blew like a balloon and he was crying for dear life.
'We had just had no idea what was going until we got to the hospital and doctors said it was a spider bite.
'We didn't know whether it was a Tarantula, a Black Widow or a Huntsman spider. We were determined not fear the worst but Evan looked so poorly and I wished it was me who was bitten.
'There is nothing worse than seeing your child like that and not being able to do anything to help. The doctor said it's a bite he had never seen anything like it before.'
An Aldi spokesperson said: 'Incidents of this nature are extremely rare and we take them seriously.
'We have apologised to the customer and are investigating this incident with our suppliers.'
