It’s like something straight out of a terrifying real-life alien blockbuster – snails the size of tennis shoes are invading southern Florida.

Reports of the giant African snail first surfaced in the beachside city of Miami in the 1960s, with the most recent invasion coming to light in 2011.

It is currently on the warpath, spreading to the southern suburbs of Miami and the neighbouring Broward county, according to AFP.

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State agriculture department spokesperson Mark Fagan said recently that Florida had invested nearly $11 million over the past four years in efforts to eradicate the pest – 10 times the amount spent to get rid of the snails in the 1960s.

“The fact is they’re a human and animal health threat and they’re a threat to Florida’s agriculture,” said Mr Fagan.

“We can’t let the population continue.”

But so far the snails have continued to prosper and are proving to have a destructive effect on the world around them.

The snails consume as many as 500 different plants, and are also known to eat the stucco off houses.

They can also cause a rare form of meningitis in humans.

Efforts to get rid of them have been complicated by their elusive nature and ability to avoid chemicals on the ground by climbing trees or hibernating underground for extended periods.

Experts have removed 158,000 of the giant snails in the past four years.

The latest discovery of live giant snails was in a new neighbourhood south of Miami in April, but eradication efforts will not be declared successful until there have been no sightings of the pest for two years.

They are yet to reach Australia, but their destructive nature has seen efforts to prevent them arriving in the country.