Mother fled flat with her baby after discovering a snake in the hallway

‘FORCED TO SPEND NIGHT IN CAR’ – AND SAYS LANDLORD DID NOTHING TO SUPPORT HER

A MUM has spoken of her horror at finding a snake “as fat as her fist and as long as her arm” in her flat.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, discovered the reptile in the hallway of her flat in Vestry House, pictured, off Humberstone Gate, Leicester, when she went to the bathroom at 2am.

She said she immediately called her landlord and police, who said they were unable to help.

So she grabbed her five-monthold son and they spent the night in her car.

The 24-year-old said: “In the moment I didn’t know what to do and for some reason I called the police who, of course, couldn’t help and advised me the RSPCA only come out for animals that are in danger.

“I called the PA Housing out-ofhours team and they also said they couldn’t do anything at that hour of the morning and just to leave the snake – which is bizarre considering I have a baby.

“I quickly grabbed a few essentials for my baby boy and left the flat at the earliest opportunity.”

The mum said the out-of-hours team did advise her to take her child to a relative’s house, but she did not have that option.

She said: “They told me multiple times they couldn’t help me at all.

“I explained I suffer from anxiety and I have a baby and I live alone.

“However, their response remained the same – we can’t do anything – and if I found the snake I should call them back. Which is just ridiculous.

“I stayed on the phone begging them to say please just temporarily transfer us until it had been found so we were somewhere safe for tonight as we had nowhere to go. They said they couldn’t even though I advised them on multiple occasions that I would be homeless for the night.

“How did they expect me to go back into that property knowing I have a baby and there’s a snake on the loose?

“I told them my anxiety levels were high and I had suffered many panic attacks since seeing the snake but they were so blunt in their response.” The mum said she rang Housing at 8am the next day and was informed a message had been sent out to all residents.

She said: “They came back to me at noon and advised that the snake belonged to my neighbour and it had escaped her cage where she keeps an additional eight snakes.

“My neighbour then arranged to come over to try to find the snake and take it away but she wasn’t able to find it as it had nested somewhere out of sight.

“We asked if we could end our tenancy effective immediately to get out of there.”

But the mum said she is disgusted by her landlord’s response and feels her story is the latest in a long line of incidents at Vestry House.

She said: “It’s safe to say everybody knows about this building if you’re a Leicester resident.”

Rachael Smart, assistant director of housing services at PA Housing, said: “This was a highly unusual sitPA uation and not like anything we’d dealt with before.

“The snake was small and harmless and we’re glad to say that, after being in contact with the RSPCA, it has now been safely returned to its home.

“We’re very sorry about the distress caused to our resident.

“Our contractor has blocked any potential future escape routes to prevent the same thing happening again.”