Venomous Spider Outbreak Shuts British School

An English school has been forced to close after an outbreak of “false widow” spiders, the latest in a series of sightings of Britain’s most poisonous arachnid.

Dean Academy in the western Forest of Dean region would shut its doors on Wednesday while experts dealt with the eight-legged invaders, vice principal Craig Burns said in a statement.

The spiders, which resemble the potentially deadly black widow, have colonised parts of southern England for more than a century although they are thought to have spread in the last 25 years, according to Britain’s Natural History Museum.