Snake, who refused to leave his BMW home for THREE weeks

One minute it was there, the next it had gone.

This 4ft-long snake was spotted under the bonnet of Errol Davis's BMW 318 when he opened it up to check the oil.

Scared, like most of us, by the reptiles the father of four promptly handed the car to a garage in Harlow, Essex, and begged them to remove it.
But it refused to come out and hid inside the chassis, engine and bodywork of the car for three weeks - even while it was being driven.
 
Finally staff at MOTs R UZ forced the Californian corn snake out of the car by spraying the vehicle with a high-powered water hose.

Mr Davis, a maintenance worker at Mecca Bingo, said: 'I checked my oil and glanced to my right and saw this bright orange thing and thought that doesn't belong in my engine.

'I realised it was a snake and screamed like a five-year-old girl, slammed down the bonnet and ran to the local garage.

'They rummaged around but couldn't find it and I said I'll need another car as I'm terrified of snakes.


'For the next three weeks every so often they put the car on the ramp to look for it then when they valeted it it must have woken it up.

'I just hate snakes. I don't think I will ever be able to open that bonnet on my own again.'

Shaun Cope, 40, manager of MOTs R UZ, said he drove Mr Davis' car around Harlow hoping to wake the snake up.

He said: 'It was hiding inside the chassis and we couldn't get it out. We knew it was in there but couldn't find it.


'When we jet washed the engine it came back out. I don't mind snakes really, it was living there for three weeks so it must have been nice and warm.

'I've seen some problems in engines before, but never had to deal with a snake.'

Mr Cope and other mechanics used a tea towel to capture the snake and handed it over to the RSPCA on Thursday September 1.

The cornsnake, believed to be an escaped pet, climbed into Mr Davis' car near his home in Harlow, Essex.



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