Passers-by were in for a shock last night when they saw a 3ft snake perched above the entrance to a city centre building.
Police were called to the scene at 5.45pm after two separate members of the public reported seeing the escaped female corn snake, which is not venomous, on a glass ledge over the entrance to Oulton Place on St Oswald’s Way.
It is thought the intrepid reptile had somehow made her way down several flights of stairs from her owner’s home - in which the windows were closed - on the fourth floor of the building.
PC Jeff Cottrell and PC Melissa Sawojka came to her rescue and took her to Chester Zoo to be identfied.
The power of social media was demonstrated when Cheshire Constabulary posted about the discovery on Twitter and the owner was located minutes later.
PC Cottrell said: “We thought it was a joke at first, that it might be a toy.
“We didn’t really know what to do with it but we knew we had to get it identified.
“We were going to make house to house enquiries to find its owner but within five minutes of putting it on Twitter, we found them.”
PC Cottrell, who admitted he wasn’t particularly fond of snakes, said of the incident: “It was a welcome change from a normal Sunday afternoon.”
