She hyperventilates and sweats. She trembles and becomes sick to her stomach.

A British woman claims that even the sight of bananas makes her go, well, bananas.

Fran Dando, 21, claims to be one of a handful of people who suffer from bananaphobia – an irrational and debilitating fear of bananas.

Dando told the Daily Mail that her terror of the curved yellow fruit began at the age of seven, when her brother pulled a prank on her by putting a banana in her bed.

"I climbed into bed and, as I lay down, I felt this horrible slimy thing underneath my body. I had no idea what is was, but it frightened the life out of me," she told the Daily Mail. "Ever since then, if I see one, the same feeling comes back over me again."

Dando told the paper her phobia is "embarrassing," and admitted that "it is such a nonsensical fear."

But it's a fear that the mother has to face head-on. It turns out her toddler son actually loves the dreaded fruit, which Dando admits puts her in a "tricky situation."

It is not know how many other people suffer from Dando's plight.

Bananas, an excellent source of potassium, may be the third most popular fruit in the world, but they do have their detractors.

There is a Facebook support group – "I am afraid of bananas and I am not afraid to admit it!" – though it only has 28 members.