A Londoner had a shock when she opened her airing cupboard and spotted a snake slithering beneath the vacuum cleaner.
Kasia Radochonska, from Southwark, was choosing shoes when she spotted the little corn snake.
She said: “I probably would have been more frightened had she been a big snake, but she was only small. If it had been a spider, I would have run a mile!”
RSPCA animal collection officer Joe Tambini went to Kasia’s flat and collected the little reptile.
He said: “Kasia had been knocking on doors in her block to find out if anyone was missing a snake but no-one claimed her. She [the snake] was a bit cold, so I took her to RSPCA Putney Animal Hospital where she was put in a vivarium to heat up.”
The young corn snake – nicknamed Mavis – will move to an RSPCA rehoming centre if not claimed by an owner.
