Dangerous bus stop near Bristol Airport

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The Mirror

Passengers have been left terrified after a bus stop became infested with venomous false widow spiders.

Disabled Helen Day, 39, said her local stop has become one of the most dangerous in Britain after being invaded by the insects.

Helen says the bus stop in tiny Felton, near Bristol Airport, is covered with spider webs and riddled with nests.

Most of the people that use the stop are elderly or disabled and Helen said she feared that someone will be bitten.

She said: "If anybody goes into the shelter it only takes one to jump onto a rucksack

I wonder is she's reported it to the bus operator and / or local council, or just to The Mirror?

[JayMac]

The Mirror refers to these creatures as insects. 

And yes, North Somerset Council have visited the bus stop according to other news outlets.

[Tim]

Not insects and standing at a bus stop you are more likely to be killed by a bus than a spider.

http://britishspiders.org.uk/wiki2015/index.php?title=False_Widow_Spiders

[Bmblbzzz]

"Bitten by a fatally harmless eight-legged pseudo-insect while waiting for a bus, young Peter Parker developed amazing superpowers. Determined to put these incredible spider-like abilities to good use, he made it his mission to seek out and destroy trashy sensationalist journalism. Disguised as an ordinarily obnoxious teenager, he would talk his way into newspaper offices then destroy their equipment with used chewing gum while subjecting the staff to monosyllabic grunts, pausing only to adjust his headphones before vanishing into the jungle of the public transportation system."

[bobm]

Peter Parker - didn't he run good old British Rail?

[Chris from Nailsea]

In my day job, I drive past that particular bus stop -


A passenger says she has seen five spiders at the bus stop in Felton (Image: David Hedges/SWNS)

- between about eight or twelve times each week.*

I have yet to see piles of human bodies building up beside that shelter - nor indeed to see any living human waiting for a bus there.

I really don't want to pour scorn on the original Mirror news story, but I can see no evidence that it has any foundation in fact.



* Those differences are due to my return delivery journey not necessarily being along the same route as the outward one.