Meet the man who lives with over 1,000 tarantulas - and travels up and down the country helping people overcome their fears of creepy crawlies.

Aaron Phoenix, 37, began accumulating them in the summer of 2021 to help with his mental health and believes he was "born to save spiders."

He keeps the spiders across two locations - his "tarantula cave" in his house and a separate premises used for breeding - and says the biggest is the size of a dinner plate.

After hitting the papers last year for his incredible collection, Aaron has added a further 300 of the arachnids to his spider home.

Thanks to the exposure, Aaron has now travelled the country helping people who may have previously been scared of the animals take an interest in them.

Aaron, a house removals specialist, from Yate, South Glos., said: "It's easily over 1000 now.