Tarantula shock at Willenhall school

??A teenage girl getting ready for a PE lesson at her Black Country school got the shock of her life when she discovered a live tarantula in her shoe.

The Year 10 pupil at Willenhall's St Thomas More Catholic School originally thought her 11-year-old brother had played a prank and hidden a plastic spider in her trainer.

Thinking it was a harmless toy, the 15-year-old picked it up but the spider then started crawling.

The fully-grown Chilean rose tarantula is now being looked after by teacher Caroline Parsons, who used to work at Dudley Zoo specialising in creepy crawlies. She has named it Thomas.

She said: "He has been eating non-stop and has spun a web, which is a good sign."

Headteacher Sean Flynn said: "It is a mystery as to how it got into the school. "We think that it must have escaped from a nearby house."