Snake found hanging from dashboard of car near Willington

A corn snake has been rescued from a car after a delivery driver noticed it hanging out of the dashboard.

Linjoy Wildlife Sanctuary and Rescue said it received a call from the driver at about 09:00 BST on Wednesday.

He had pulled over at a service station on the A38 near Willington, Derbyshire, after spotting the stowaway.

Lindsay Newell, who runs the sanctuary, said the non-venomous snake was now safe, despite not being happy about being moved.

The car was being taken from a car dealership in Tipton, in the West Midlands, to its new owner in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

After receiving the call a sanctuary volunteer went to investigate.

Ms Newell said: "We thought it was going to be a case of grabbing it and getting it out but it had moved under the seat.

"Where the seat attaches to the frame of the vehicle there's a hole and it had gone under there.

"We could only see its tail but couldn't reach it."

They removed the chair from the car and pulled up some of the flooring only to find the snake had vanished.

"We put a phone camera against the trim and we could just see its scales in the mid-section of the car.

"It wasn't happy," she said.

"At this point it was trying to get away - still trying to slither off to get further in."

Eventually, they managed to reach the snake's head and despite nearly being bitten, they got it out safely.

The car had to be put back together before the driver could continue his journey.

Ms Newell said: "Luckily the customer was very understanding.

"I'm sure they wouldn't want a snake with their purchase."

She said the snake was very cold but was doing well at the sanctuary.

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