A man says he's been bitten more than 100 times due to an infestation of false widow spiders inside his flat.

Russell Davies, from Southborough near Tunbridge Wells, has been living with the eight-legged flatmates in his home for more than a year, and claims his landlords are refusing to fumigate it.

Russell moved into his apartment in Park Road in January 2020, however, within a week of living there he began to notice unusual bites on his body.

The 55-year-old said: "My support worker at the time saw these things on my body, when I lifted up my shirt and showed her.

"I first thought it was my skin reacting to the treatment I had been prescribed for my eczema.

"The following year, when I was at my sister-in-law's, I cross-referenced a photo I took of a spider in my flat on Google, and it came up with noble false widow/skull spider.

"I remember my sister-in-law asking if I was alright, and I said: 'No I'm not, I think I finally know what has been happening to my skin.'.

"The bites in the pictures matched up exactly with what I have."

Russell's body is now covered in bites all over his body, and is still being bitten regularly by his unwelcome arachnid companions.

He explains: "I have been bitten in my sleep, in my bed all the time. From my ankles to my head.

"Without exaggeration, my bottom looks like somebody's taken a cheese grater to the pair of them - it is that bad.

"It is so painful round my waist, my arms, cheeks, legs, chest, earlobes, the back of my neck and my face.

"The worst one was actually on my lip, where they bit me three times."

The noble false widow can grow up to 14mm, with a leg span that covers a 50p coin and can be identified from the patterns of cream and dark brown marks on their abdomen.

They are not native to the UK, but are thought to have arrived from the Canary Islands in banana boxes in the late 1800s.

The bite of the spider has been compared to a wasp sting.

Russell believes he has counted around 12 female spiders and roughly 10 males in his flat.

He says that the company which owns the property, Clarion Housing Association, has refused to fumigate his home or pay for heat treatment.

Clarion has said it is his responsibility to deal with the infestation.

The company has sprayed the hallways and communal areas in the block after Russell raised concerns 10 months ago.

"I saw them on the ceilings in the halls and pairs of them in the stairwells," he explained. "That's the reason I originally reported it to Clarion.

"People who are a lot older than me live here, and I was genuinely concerned, because they could die from a spider bite if they have underlying health problems."

Russell has been prescribed sleeping pills and painkillers from his doctor, but he says they don't always work.

He said: "I'm still up until 2am or 3am most days because of my mind.

"If a hair on my leg moves when I'm asleep, I am automatically awake and I rip the covers off.

"There have been times when the 5am news is quietly on the radio in the background and I'm thinking, 'Oh my god, it's five o'clock in the morning.'

Russell also suffers from complex PTSD, personality disorder and atypical autism - which have all become worse due to the infestation.

"If a hair on my leg moves when I'm asleep, I am automatically awake and I rip the covers off."

He adds: "The doctor has noticed that my mental health is getting worse, and I do suffer from problems that I take medication for anyway.

"I have to hold myself together because I don't want to fall apart."

He now believes he won't be able to go back to work as a chef because of the condition of his skin, and will be forced to pursue another career path.

A spokesman for Clarion said: “We appreciate how unpleasant and inconvenient pests can be and we are sorry to hear that Mr Davies is suffering with this problem.

"Clarion’s pest control specialists are contracted to focus on communal spaces, but this is an unusual and difficult case.

"We are committed to resolving this problem and are speaking with Mr Davies about the steps that need to be taken to support his health and remove the spiders from his home.”