POLICE were put on phobia alert at their Torquay station when a tarantula was handed into their lost and found department.

Anxious officers kept their distance as the eight-legged creature — nicknamed Harry the Spider — settled down to a night of confinement in the warm.

He was locked up in a plastic lunchbox by the law, who took him in after he was found wandering around the Newton Road area in sub-zero temperatures late on Tuesday night.

Sgt Jackie Page said: "We had to inform colleagues about the spider's presence in case they had a phobia.

"He was handed in at about 10pm and logged in as a 'tarantula-type, brown furry spider'."

She added: "He's been a bit docile, but since the press rang he's been a bit livelier and is moving around.

"I think he must like the publicity, because before that we feared he may have breathed his last. He wasn't moving much."

The new inmate was discovered on a wall or a window sill at a property in frost-bound Newton Road just half a mile from the station.

Police are anxious to hear from anyone who may have mislaid the spider, which is poisonous but doesn't spin a web.

It is named after Taranto, a port in southern Italy where it is quite common.

Locals have always maintained that anyone bitten should dance the 'tarantella' to cure themselves of its nasty nip.

After a restful night at the nick, Harry was given a police escort to Paignton Zoo where staff revealed the new recruit was a grammastola rosca, or Chilean rose tarantula.

"The zoo confirmed it was a little boy who was about to shed his skin. He was in good health, and they would keep it for breeding purposes," said Sgt Page.

She added: "We were also told the spider could give a nasty sting and rash if it did bite, but it would only be fatal if the victim went into anaphylactic shock."