VILLAGERS had a shock when an 11-foot pet python was spotted slithering across the main road.

The five-year-old reptile escaped from a house in Mitcheldean on Saturday evening and the alarm was raised around 9pm after police reveived reports of the snake loose on Gloucester Road, where it was spotted gliding from the pavement to the middle of the road.

Officers who arrived on the scene at 9.10pm said they closed the road and got in touch with the RSPCA, who set about contacting a reptile specialist in the Midlands.

However, the owner of the snake then called police to say his python had escaped, and aleted to its whereabouts, came and captured it around 11pm. The owner reportedly reassured residents that the python was non-venomous and “absolutely no danger to anyone.”