Slippery suspect caught by police

Pc Sandra King said she apprehended "a slippery suspect"

A 3ft-long corn snake, thought to be an escaped pet, has been captured in a car park in Surrey, police have said.

The tan-coloured snake, which is now with the RSPCA, was seen under a parked car at a nursing home in Spelthorne.

Pc Sandra King, who has a snake of her own and managed to capture the "slippery suspect", said it was used to being handled and was "very friendly".

"Corn snakes are extremely good escape artists that can get out of the tiniest of gaps," she said.

PC King said the snake "was a little cold from being outside", and tried to slither up her shirt sleeve and into her stab vest "probably to warm up a bit".

After it was caught on 17 June, she introduced the snake to residents at the Ashton Lodge Nursing Home who seemed "pleasantly surprised that it was smooth and soft and not at all slimy".

She added that because corn snakes "don't usually roam too far from home", somebody in the Sunbury Cross area will be missing "a much-loved pet".