Snakes alive!

When a five-year-old boy from Southend, in Essex, took a trip to the loo, he was shocked to discover a metre-long baby royal python inside the bowl. When the boy’s mum went to investigate she said she had “to use a broom handle to lift the lid, then out popped its head...” Specialists from a local pet shop removed the reptile, which was described as smelling “of bleach and a bit toilet-y”. It’s believed that the snake made its way up the toilet’s U-bend after slithering away when its owner was moving house.