THIS might look like an eerie scene from a horror movie but it is all nature’s work.

The mass of spider webs were found spread over a 40m-wide area of scrub and grassland at a nature reserve in St Leonards by Ross Lawford and his 14-year-old nephew James.

The webbing is caused by tiny money spiders, which climb to the highest point and release silk threads, called gossamer, into the air to form a parachute which lifts the spider into the air.

Mr Lawford, 33, from St Leonards, said: “My nephew just said ‘wow, it’s a sea of spiders’.

“All the webs were covered in spiders, which made him a little worried.

“I’ve been walking in that area with him since he was little and we’ve never seen anything like it.”

Jess Price, a fellow conservation officer at the Sussex Wildlife Trust, said: “The mild weather this year has meant that it has generally been a very good spider year, as there have been lots of invertebrates to eat.

“Gossamer is most commonly seen on autumn morning, when dew condenses on the threads making it glisten in the sunlight, otherwise you might easily fail to notice it.

“Soon the weather and general wildlife will break through lots of the threads so that the gossamer gradually fades away.”