SPIDER season is well and truly here... and for some people it can be a nightmare.

Lorraine Tilston-Brookes says even the sight of an arachnid is enough to make her scream.

The 54-year-old said: “They freak me out. They’ve got so many legs and just thinking about it makes me feel creepy.

“As long as I see them, it’s okay, but the minute it moves or disappears, it totally freaks me out.

“If I had one on me I would probably scream but I can’t run because I am physically disabled.”

Lorraine lives alone in Haydon Wick and had to overcome her phobia.

“I don’t kill them because I’ve got a spider catcher,” She said. “It is about a foot long, so I don’t have to get near them.

"Years ago, when I was married I wouldn’t even deal with them, but I had to learn to get them out of the house and then I can relax.”

But the phobia affects her on daily basis. She said: “The other night I went to the bathroom and it was underneath the radiator. I couldn’t even carry on using the toilet.”

Lorraine remembers the scariest experience she had with a spider in the late 1980s.

“I was visiting a friend and I was sitting on a chair and my then husband was opposite. We were all talking, and suddenly my ex said 'oh look’. I just knew what was happening.

“I turned around and there was a spider on the arm of a chair that I was sitting on.

“I hyperventilated and got out of that room as quick as possible. It took me half an hour to breath down and calm myself.”

Royal Wootton Bassett hypnotherapist Helen Breward said it was possible to conquer a fear of spiders.

She said: “I teach clients a simple breathing technique that sends the message to the brain and body ‘everything is okay, relax’.

“I also help them to react differently and see a different point of view.”