A man got more than he bargained for when he bought a used car and found a snake slithering about inside.

Nick Gott, of Louvain Road, Dovercourt, discovered the reptile yesterday when inspecting the Ford Orion he bought a few hours earlier from a Colchester dealership.

The 22-year-old spotted the 3ft-long Snow Corn snake at about 6.15pm when it appeared by the dashboard.

Mr Gott's mother, Tina Dowling, had driven the car home from J & R Autos in Layer Road and said she was worried about the snake's welfare.

She said: "Nick was tinkering around in the car when he noticed a white thing which went under the dashboard. At first we wondered if it was his imagination, but he said it was definitely a snake."

"I tried to phone the RSPCA but they said they couldn't send anyone around because they were only on skeleton staff and could only deal with car accidents or emergencies."

Her sister phoned the police and the family captured it and put it in a cardboard box so it was not loose in the car.

A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said staff were limited to deal with emergencies during evenings, but that someone would visit later.

She said: "It sounds like it could be a python, but it is quite warm at the moment so it should be all right until someone collects it."

The car was bought from J and R Autos which is run by father and son John and John Pycraft

Published Friday August 9, 2002

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