'Biggest spider I've seen': Christchurch woman's creepy crawly find

A Christchurch woman has stumbled across an incredibly large spider in the dunes of the seaside suburb New Brighton.

On Tuesday, Baylee Bensley-Howell captured footage of the spider which she described as the "biggest spider I've ever seen".

The couple spotted the giant arachnid near Bottle Lake Forest, a place where they frequently walk.

"My boyfriend Anaru and I were walking our dog, and my boyfriend was looking at the cobwebs on the bushes, and he just saw it out of the corner of his eye.

"It gave him a bit of a fright, so he had to go investigate," she told the Herald.

"We were quite surprised that it was so out in the open."

Despite being inquisitive, Bensley-Howell kept her distance.

"I wasn't frightened, but I definitely wouldn't want to come across one in my house!"

The native nursery-web spider had a black body with white stripes on its back and dark red legs, but is completely harmless.