WORRIED residents have been told to evacuate their housing block for up to two hours while pest controllers battle an infestation of poisonous spiders.

The building, on the corner of Upper Walthamstow Road and Bisterne Avenue, will be pumped full of pesticides this afternoon to kill off 'false widow' spiders which are thought to have nested in several flats.

The species - Latin name steatoda nobilis - are very similar in appearance to the feared black widow and are capable of hospitalising adults with their stings.

The spiders are the UK's most poisonous variety, and are thought to have first landed the country on a ship from the Canary Islands 200 years ago.

Pest controllers are due to carry out the fumigation between 1pm and 4pm today (Tuesday), with the council telling people to stay out of their homes for at least two hours while the chemicals clear.

An unnamed resident told the Guardian that he had reported the outbreak to the council after finding one of the spiders in his bathroom.

He said: "They're horrible looking things.

"It really freaks you out to know you've got them in your flat.

"They have stings which are more than ten times as bad as a wasps so you worry about how dangerous they would be for kids."

Neighbour Suzanne Taylor was more circumspect.

She said: "It's not nice to think these spiders are in the block, but I'm glad they're taking action to deal with them.

"At least after the fumigation we can have peace of mind.

"You don't think you'd have to worry about things like this in this country."

Scientists have attributed the growing number of false widow sightings across Britain to global warming.

Waltham Forest Council has yet to comment.