Catherine Scott: Welcome to world wide web of spider phobics

I thought I had succeeded when a few years ago a member of staff at my daughter’s nursery proudly told me that Millie was their chief spider catcher. I swelled with pride and joy that at last there would be someone other than my husband who could be called on to evict said arachnids from the bath in times of need. But my euphoria was short-lived. It seems, despite my best intentions my children are as scared of the darned creatures as me, which, at this time of year, is no laughing matter.

The terror these innocent creatures can produce is difficult to explain but came to the fore last week when driving my brood to Harrogate. My eight-year-old hollers from the back that there’s a spider under the seat. “It’s got claws,” she adds with growing panic.

“It can’t have claws, it’s just a harmless spider; one of God’s creatures which is more scared of you than you are of it,” I say, with not as much conviction as I would like.

“It’s this big,” says my elder daughter, making the size of a 50p piece with her fingers. I can just about cope with that, I think. Then comes a blood-curdling scream from both of them and they unfasten their seat belts and try to get into the front of the car. I pull over on to the pavement, much to the bemusement of passers-by who have clearly heard the screams.

We all jump out and I try to calm my youngest. But what am I to do? I am trying to suppress my spider-phobia, remember. I am also stuck on the pavement with a hastily-parked Mini and there is no way any of us are getting back in with our unwanted visitor.

I try telling myself it is not a spider, just a small fluffy creature we have to get out of the car. But then I spy the monster, which for a change my eldest has vastly underestimated and let out an equally blood-curdling scream. Luckily, and I have to admit rather embarrassingly, two very kind, and brave men came to our rather pathetic aid and removed the interloper to allow us on our journey. But I fear this will not be the end of our terror.

Each autumn, the number of spiders seen indoors increases as males go on the hunt for a mate. The Society of Biology has launched a new recording scheme and is asking everyone who sees house spiders to report their sightings.

The free app Spider in da House is available in the Android and Apple app stores, but I have a feeling it won’t get much use in our house – we will all have our eyes firmly shut.

Twitter@ypcscott