They have a venomous bite which they use to incapacitate their prey and which can cause headaches, vomiting and heart palpitations in humans.

But they are not generally seen as harmful to people.

Lindsay, who moved to Australia to be with his Aussie wife, said: “I did know that, generally speaking, the bigger the spider in Australia, the less likely it is to murder you.

“It’s the small ones you have to be worried about. But, coming from Scotland, where spiders are tiny, I didn’t want to risk being suffocated or stabbed by this one.”

He added: “I think I was very brave, actually my family disagree.”