UK defence company on Redback alert

[Steevo]

Something about these guys that would really makes me freak!!

 

 

Staff at a British munitions company were faced with a deadly threat of a different kind when a container shipped from Australia contained a load of Redback spiders.

 

More than a dozen of the small but dangerous spiders were found in the parts crate sent to BAE Systems at Warton Aerodrome in Lancashire, The Sun newspaper reports.

 

The eight-legged creatures sparked panic at the base, where Eurofighter jets are built.

 

"It was like a scene from a horror film," a source at the base told the newspaper.

 

"There were these tiny black spiders with a red stripe down their back running around a container of parts from Australia.

 

"It caused a major panic."

 

Redbacks are one of Australia's most dangerous spiders. Hundreds of people are bitten every year, and 15 deaths have been recorded.

 

The area around the base near Preston was sealed and experts were brought in, amid fears some of the spiders might escape and start breeding in nearby fields.

 

"Big, tough men were yelling with fear when they saw these things crawling all over the place," the source said.

 

"There were also loads of eggs in there.

 

"The big worry was one could have escaped."

 

A BAE Systems spokeswoman said the base was no longer on Redback alert.

 

"The situation is under control," she said.

 

 

Just incase you were wondering:

 

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/3663/rbsk.jpg

 

[Mara]

I've seen many a big, tough guy reduced to a squealing, sniveling little girl in the presence of a spider!

[Steevo]

[Jaye]

In Lancashire, you say? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/Jett_Moonwing/Emotes/mwahaha.gif