A WOMAN returned from the beach to find an unwelcome visitor in her bedroom.

The Parkstone resident, who asked to remain anonymous, found a four-feet-long snake in her ground-floor flat.

Wearing a snake-skin bodysuit, the shocked resident thought the Burmese python, called Azael, was a belt but slammed the door shut when she realised what it was.

She said: “I had just got back from the beach and had a playsuit on which had a similar style to the pattern of the snake.

“I thought it was a belt, I had a look and thought it was too big, I closed the door, then double-checked, it was just lying there.

“It was in the bedroom and had come through the window.

“Someone who is in another block of flats saw my post online and said, ‘that is my snake, it escaped through the window’.”

The resident said the owner apologised and collected the snake.

She added: “When I saw it I ran up to another flat and a man used to own snakes, he knew what he was doing and got it straight into a pillow case.

“I didn’t get much sleep, I was just in shock. He may as well have climbed into bed with me.”

The owner of the snake, who also asked to remain anonymous, said: "I was at work and my partner let the snake roam about as we do, he jumped in the shower, when he came out that snake had disappeared.

"I felt so bad, I'm going to buy [the resident] some flowers."