A woman in southern Germany called the police after she found a "fist-sized" spider in her apartment, local law enforcement in Bavaria said on Thursday. 

The 21-year-old, who lives in the town of Neu-Ulm, locked herself in a room on Wednesday while waiting for the police to respond.

The police later came to the apartment, but the arachnid still hadn't been found. She decided to leave the apartment while being accompanied by police. 

A friend of the young woman has now undertaken the search for the spider.  

The giant house spider is one of the most common species in Germany. These spiders are considered harmless to humans.

Spider forced supermarket shutdown in 2011

It's not the first time a spider has caused panic in Germany. 

In 2011, a deadly Brazilian wandering spider forced an evacuation of a supermarket in the western German town of Bexbach, news outlet Der Spiegel reported. The spider jumped out of a box of bananas while employees were unpacking goods.

The spider was declared to be dead after pest control poison was used in the supermarket, but the remains of the eight-legged creature were not found.    

German news agency dpa contributed to this report