A schoolgirl has been permanently scarred after needing to get emergency surgery for a suspected spider bite which grew into a "tangerine-sized abscess".

Mum-of-three Ashley Simpson, 26, is warning parents after an unidentified creepy crawly sunk its fangs into her six-year-old daughter Emily-Jane Stuart's arm.

She was playing on a water slide at a funfair when she was felt a pin-prick that left a bright red sore on July 13 last year.

Ashley said it rapidly spread across her skin two days later before turning into a bulbous blister that would not pop.

Emily-Jane was forced to undergo surgery to drain it – leaving her with an open wound for four months and terrified of bugs.

Ashley, from Fraserburgh, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, said: "[The bite] kept spreading and spreading, and fast. It was a lot to go through for her.

"It escalated really quickly and in matter of days.

"When it first started off it was like a pin prick and a red mark. I got her in the bath then I noticed. It was under her arm.

"I took her over to the hospital the next day.

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"They just put some cream on it and bandaged her up.

"They tried to squeeze the blister because it was quite a size but she was just in hysterics. She was crying.

"You can see from the photo how [large] it grew. It was bigger than a tangerine by the day of her surgery."

The little girl was soon referred for surgery at Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, where she was put under general anaesthetic for the 90-minute procedure.

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Ashley took her daughter to hospital "more than 25 times" until November, when antibiotics began to kick in and her open wound began to heal.

She added: "She's now wary of little beasties. Every time she sees a spider she'll just cry.

"With all bugs she panics and cries if they're too close and shouts me.

"It was a lot of work for a five-year-old.

"The advice I could give is no matter how little the mark is, it's always better to get a second opinion as they were not going to do anything until I persevered."

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