DAILY MAIL (London, UK) 01 October 13 Terrified gas engineer left trapped in charity shop basement for more than an hour after 4ft Corn Snake slithers out from bags of donations
A gas engineer was trapped in the basement of a London charity shop for more than an hour after he discovered a 4ft snake resting among bags of donations.
The engineer was visiting the British Heart Foundation shop, in Surbiton, London, when he found the corn snake slithering around the floor.
Shop manager John DeCastro said the gas man was trapped for more than an hour after he jumped on to an air conditioning unit, unaware of what species of snake it was.
He told MailOnline how he had just shown the engineer where the gas meter was when the snake was discovered.
He said: 'I turned around and said "that's not a real snake" but he said "it's just moved - don't touch it".'
Mr DeCastro said he then contacted the police who arrived about an hour later.
He said: 'We were stuck down there for about an hour not knowing what to do.
'I was guessing whether it was real or not but then it moved properly and went towards the gas man.'
When the police arrived Sergeant Bob Whitehead simply picked the snake up and put it into a box.
Sgt Whitehead told the Kingston Guardian how officers received a call from the shop saying the gas engineer was trapped by the snake.
He said: 'I turned up, looked at it, had a look at the snake, and then basically went and picked him up by the back of the neck.'
The snake was then handed over to nearby store Reptile Kingdom.
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