James Waddicor needed more space for his family, so he converted the loft at his Swindon home. Nothing unusual about this, except that it is home for a massive insect collection.

When Tanya Parkinsonvisited James in Peatmoor, there were over 300 adult and baby spiders, 20 species of stick insect, scorpions, a toad, frogs, snails and lots of cockroaches. In addition there were a number of exotic rodents including chipmunks, fat tailed gerbils and degus (a hamster/guinea pig cross).

James, who is married with two young children, explained that he has a particular interest in stick insects, which he has been collecting since he was a boy. On a recent visit to Borneo he captured over 20 species from the rainforest at night and brought them back into Britain.

"I belong to the Phasmid Study Group and we try to identify new species, we take photographs and liaise with museums to verify each additional type," he explained.

Amongst his collection of spiders is the Goliath, the largest species in the world, recently featured on ITV's' Animal Giants. He also keeps a number of tarantulas and their babies. "I started keeping spiders about eight years ago and by careful handling have never been bitten. There is quite a market in breeding exotic spiders."

James says that his children love the creatures but his wife is an arachnophobic who has threatened to leave home if he buys another spider. "She hasn't yet," he said. "But she did insist I sell my python when the children were born. At 15 feet, she was worried that they might be eaten if it ever got out."

It costs about £25 a month to feed the insects, mostly on live crickets. One of the drawbacks though is that they sometimes escape. They were noisily chirping in the warmth behind the fridge throughout the interview. James spends about 10 hours a week on his hobby.

And for the future, he plans to take a trip to South America this year to catch more spiders. Longer term he is planning the horticulture of exotic plants. He already has over 25 different species of bamboo growing in the garden.