ACTRESS Alison Steadman has visited Swindon primary school pupils to get them excited about creative writing as she releases her first children’s book.

The award-winning performer – perhaps best known as feisty Pamela in much-loved British sitcom Gavin and Stacey – published ‘Spider!’ in October.

It tells the tale of a little boy called Rafael who learns to love the eight-legged creatures.

Her story was inspired by a real child of the same name – the son of fellow actress Sally Rogers – who she met on the set of The Syndicate in 2013.

Rafael told her he thought spiders were ‘horrible’.

Alison, 71, visited Drove Primary School today to read them the book and encourage them not to be afraid of harmless house spiders.

She told the children during the special assembly: “I decided I wanted to write a book to help everyone who is afraid of house spiders.

“What I have tried to do with this book is explain a little bit about house spiders so perhaps we will be a little bit kinder.

“Put your hands up if you are afraid of spiders.”

Nearly every child raises their hand instantly.

“They are more scared of you than you are of them,” she said.

“Sometimes I think human beings do wrong things – we like to kill things if they are in our way.

“Can you imagine if there was a creature living on our planet that had huge feet and that could stamp on us and kill us?

“That is how a little spider feels and how little ants feel too. All they want to do is run away!”

She added: “Once you find out about spiders you realise they cannot hurt you – they are amazing creatures.”

The pupils gasped in awe as she told them: “Spiders have eight eyes and eight legs!”

Assistant principal Elaine Murphy said: “It has been amazing for the children to see an author on the stage who penned those words, getting them excited about writing.

“For the youngsters, it’s bringing the book alive.

“It could be inspirational for them and they will think ‘that could be me’. They see the bigger picture.”

Alison told the Adver she has been visiting Swindon since her early 20s because her sister moved to Swindon in the 1960s, and her four great-great-nephews go to Croft Primary School.

She spent a lot of her childhood in the fresh air, picking fruits and exploring, turning over rocks and looking at all the creepy crawlies.

“I don’t remember ever having a fear of spiders,” she said.

“As kids we were always rummaging around and were outside 90% of the time.”

She puts on a high-pitched voice to imitate someone who doesn’t like the eight-legged beasts.

“‘Oooh I’m scared of them!' - people say. I think it’s the way they run,” she said.

“I once met a journalist who told me she was so frightened of spiders that she went on a course to cure her phobia.”

She said it really shocked her because here was this professional woman, about to get married, squirming at the thought of them.

Does Alison think talking to the children will change people’s attitudes towards spiders?

“Hopefully the children will say to their parents ‘mummy, the spider won’t hurt you’,” she said.

Alison is a staunch supporter of numerous animal charities and is an ambassador for the London Wildlife Trust.

She used to have a dog and grew up with cats, rabbits and goldfish, but her hectic schedule often takes her away from home so there would be no one to look after them.

“I honestly believe that we live in a world where we are poisoning so many creatures, and I believe it is affecting our health,” she said.

“I was in a garden centre the other day and the place is covered with things which kill – like weed killers, insecticides, that kind of thing.

“I call the wall with all these things on it ‘the murder wall’.”

Long gone are the days when children are familiar with wildlife she would see as a youngster.

“I bet some children don’t even know what a hedgehog is,” she said.

“I was in the garden with my partner the other day and I said ‘oh look, there’s a butterfly!’

“We hardly see any butterflies or hedgehogs anymore.

“There’s always one child who asks ‘have you ever held a tarantula?’”

But one of the Drove Road pupil’s questions has Alison stumped: What would happen if a baby ate a spider?

What does the protagonist think about her book?

“Rafael is 11 now and he thinks it’s great,” she said.

And is this the first children’s book of many to come?

“I’d like to think I would write some other books for children,” she said.

“Perhaps about slugs and snails because people don’t like them either!”