The false widow spider is a close relative of the black widow

Jason Fricker, 34, was setting up angling goods on his Salisbury market stall when the false widow struck.

The creature, a relative of the deadly black widow, fell out of a box of equipment and down his jumper before it bit him last Friday.

Doctors at Dorset County Hospital put him on a drip and kept him in until Tuesday. He has now recovered.

'Spider bite'

A GP had checked his computer to identify the culprit by its puncture wounds, after Mr Fricker went to see him following the incident.

Mr Fricker said: "The doctor was quite excited about it because it was the first time he had seen a spider bite."

He was originally given antihistamine tablets and sent home to Dorchester, Dorset, but early on Sunday he developed chest pains and drove himself to a hospital.

"I had an immense burning sensation like I had been scalded down my front. I thought I was going to die," he said.

Doctors at Dorset County Hospital feared he was having a heart attack caused by an extreme reaction to the bite.

He was placed on a drip after tests showed an irregular heartbeat.

The false widow gets its name because it is often mistaken for its more venomous relative the black widow.