JK Rowling has admitted she had to rely on her husband when she had a run-in with a spider.

The Harry Potter author posted a picture on Twitter of a large arachnid in a jar and confessed that she had been unable to go through a door as it was blocking her path.

She joked that although she was a “strong” woman, her husband Dr Neil Murray had to save her.

Rowling said: “I am a strong, independent woman.

“Also, thanks very much to my husband for dealing with this so I could go through the door it was blocking.”

The tweet sparked plenty of response on Twitter, with fans commiserating with the author.

One person said: “There’s being a strong independent woman and there’s dealing with too many damned legs. You did fine. *shudder*.”

“I’m a strong independent man, but I would not even get close to that sorry. I hate spiders,” said another.