Tarantula grounds UK flight

A flight from Edinburgh to London was cancelled after a passenger claimed to have spotted a tarantula crawling between his legs.

The British Airways craft was grounded after the unnamed man raised the alarm on the Airbus A319, though none of the other 82 passengers said that they saw the arachnid, The Scotsman reports.

An airline spokesman said: "A male passenger claimed he had seen what he believed to be a tarantula on board the aircraft. He saw it walking between his legs.

"On arrival, he drew this to the attention of the cabin crew. He did not give the impression of being particularly upset. A specialist team was sent to fumigate the aircraft."

The spider was not found after the incident.

Earlier this month, flights were grounded after a bird and a mouse found their way on board different planes.