A BOSCOMBE resident has said he was left 'petrified' after he found a snake in his flat.

Graham Christopher, 47, was shocked to find the snake in his flat in Boscombe on June 7 after returning home from work. 

Although he didn't think much of it at first, Graham said he 'absolutely wet himself' when he first saw it move.

Graham said: "I put my clipboard down on the sofa to do some paperwork and made myself a coffee and went back to back up my clipboard and just saw this little thing. 

"I didn't think anything of it and then sat down to do my paperwork and in the corner, it started moving and I just absolutely wet myself."

Not a fan of snakes, Graham called his daughter who is studying an animal management course before he tried to capture it. 

He said: "By the time I had got a tub and everything else it had gone into my sofa. I ended up taking it apart only to find no sign of it.

"It had gone up inside where the cushions are so I gently wobbled it and it came onto the floor and just as I was putting a tub on it, it shot off."

Graham took the snake to Boscombe reptile store, The Reptilarium, who have cared for the snake since while they waited for an hour to claim it. 

However, staff member, Matt Norris, stated that it may not be uncommon for them to be in the wild and to breed. 

He said: "We get loads because they're escape artists. They're very intelligent and they find their way out very easily. 

"Because so many have escaped, they do breed so there's a lot of them around so something they're not actually anyone's pet."

Matt reassured that the snake is a docile breed that is not venomous and, at ten inches long, this particular snake was still a baby.

The Repitilarium will hold the snake for a week before it will rehome it.