Schools shut by plague of false widow spiders

AN infestation of venomous spiders has led to the closure of four schools for up to a month.

Two primaries and two secondaries were evacuated on Wednesday while pest controllers tried to contain the infestation of noble false widows.

The spiders were found during a routine inspection by council environmental officers, meaning they may have been at the schools for some time.

False widows are named after their more deadly cousins, black widows, because of their physical resemblance and venomous bite.

Although their bites are not fatal, they can cause swelling, fever and acute pain.

The schools affected are Ellen Wilkinson Primary School, Star Primary School, Lister Community School and Rokeby School, in Newham, east London.

A letter from the head of Rokeby School, Charlotte Robinson, said: ‘I have had to take the difficult decision to close Rokeby School to students and staff until Monday 29th October.

‘This is due to an infestation of spiders in the building that was discovered this morning. We have engaged a company to deal with and eradicate this pest. They have estimated that this will take up to three weeks.’

All of the schools say children will be given homework and study resources during the closures.

Anthony Wilson, head teacher at Lister School, said in a letter: ‘These spiders can bite humans, and the bite is unpleasant, although it is very rarely serious.’

The Natural History Museum said the noble false widow spider has a body length of up to 11mm – less than half an inch. The museum said: ‘The pattern on their bodies is often described as “skullshaped”, which probably doesn’t help their negative reputation.’

Wildlife charity Buglife said: ‘We consider this to be a radical and unnecessary overreaction to the tiny risk.’ It said spraying schools with chemicals could be riskier.

Yesterday, the closures caused concern among locals. One said on Twitter: ‘There’s an infestation of false widow spiders in my area and they’ve shut down schools as well. No, no, no - this is not happening.’

One mother, who gave her name as Eva, said: ‘My son came out of school saying, “Mummy, mummy, there were spiders crawling all over me.” He hates spiders.’