Hilarious selfies capture the moment a SPIDER photobombs teenage girls - but is it real?

For most people, taking a 'selfie' involves a long arm, a few crazy expressions and perhaps a best friend.

But these two girls found themselves trapped in a selfie hell - when they were photobombed by an enormous spider.

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This hilarious sequence of pictures shows Kirsty Middleton, 16, posing with her friend Jair Townsend at a house in Basildon, Essex.

The pair smile for the camera on their iPhone while a large eight-legged friend appears in the frame.

Their smiles fade as they spot the arachnid nestling in between their heads.

Kirsty, who told Yahoo News UK she is 'extremely afraid of spiders', is seen turning towards the photobomber.

Soon smiles turn to terror as Kirsty opens her mouth wide and screams while Jair turns her head.

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The camera captured the entire episode as the girls yelled in shock and horror while the spider, apparently unaffected by the commotion, continues to pose for a picture.

The series of pictures, which were uploaded to Tumblr by Kirsty and it has since gone viral.

Kirsty told Yahoo News UK: 'It is a total shock that me and my best friend went viral. I never thought something like this would happen to me.'

And she took to Twitter to express their shock of becoming viral, tweeting: 'HAHAHAHAHAHA ME AND JAIR ARE THE INTERNET'.

The enormous arachnid transpired to be a fake and had been planted there by Jair to terrify Kirsty - a cruel prank that had a hilarious reaction.