Thanks for the welcome and the replies. With a name to put to the face google confirmed your suggestions! I'm surprised I've never seen one of these before since they appear to be quite common all over the UK, but I guess I could put that down to moving to a more wildlife friendly area of the country.
Don't worry. I know sensationalism when I see it. It was actually a
BBC article I stumbled across first, then I went to the Natural History Museum pages so I got some quite well measured information before I looked further and found one on Sky News "Deadly Widow Weaves Web Across Britain" I saw right through it!
It was more the comparison to a wasp sting that worried me if anything! I'm terrified of wasps and her stings, but I soon learnt that spiders aren't anywhere near as aggressive.