Update: Spiders did not kill man

NEW tests have revealed that a man who was found dead among his collection of poisonous spiders did not die from a bite.

About 120 poisonous spiders including tarantulas were roaming free in the house in Bailly-en-Rivière (Seine-Maritime), near Dieppe when rescue services were called in by neighbours who said they had not seen the man, who lived alone, for several days.

An initial medical examination could not find any bites on the 66-year-old, and further tests showed that he died from natural causes.

Firemen were forced to withdraw from the house when they saw the spiders and left the job to specialists to collect them.

The spiders are currently being examined to see if they are protected species but there is no information on what danger the different species pose to humans.

Photo: George Chernilevsky