The bright orange and black reptile escaped as his owner was washing him in the bath on Friday.

He slid into the toilet bowl and disappeared down the U-bend. There have been no sightings of him since and his owners have little hope of finding him alive.

Neil Crossett, of Plymouth, bought the £85 corn snake for his 10-year-old son David.

It is not dangerous but 60,000 homes in the South West are on alert for the reptile, thought to be loose in sewerage systems.

A spokesman for South West Water said: "I understand the house is on a housing estate owned by the housing association, so there will be a lot of drainage pipes before it connects to the public service system.