30908-30A FAMILY has been terrorised by a fugitive snake in their home. The two-foot long corn snake had been hiding above their bathroom, making it a no-go area for days.

Anita and Jerry Morrish, of Walcot, who have six children, said that their weekend was a nightmare after first spotting the snake dangling through a hole in the bathroom ceiling on Friday.

They said that the RSPCA failed to help them and could not even tell them if the snake was poisonous or not.

Anita, 35, was so worried she phoned the police. A local snake enthusiast eventually came to the rescue and removed the unwanted visitor.

She said: "Each time a member of the family went into the bathroom the snake would pop its browny-beige head through the gap and stare at us.

"We have a large family and the bathroom is in constant use so it gets very hot and humid. A little hole has formed above the bath where the moisture has weakened the ceiling.

"The snake would hang down about half a foot from this hole, which leads to the loft.

"It's not often you have a snake in the shower. It was a really scary sight."

Anita phoned the RSPCA several times on Friday evening but couldn't get through. She said: "My sons went around all our neighbours asking if anyone kept snakes but no one did.

"It was frightening for all of us. My daughter Hayley is doing her GCSEs and doesn't need the extra stress, and I have a son with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

"He usually sleeps well with his medicine but the snake was really distracting for him.

"I called the RSPCA again on Saturday but was told the officer was in Bournemouth and couldn't get back to Swindon.

"I felt really annoyed and angry because at that stage we didn't know if it was poisonous or not.

"One of our neighbours knows about snakes and tried to catch it but it had wound itself around something in the loft so he couldn't pull it down.

By Sunday evening Anita said they each wanted a proper shower but were too worried about the snake.

She said: "As I was bathing Lewis, six, the snake came down again. I can laugh now but at the time it was horrible."

Their ordeal came to an end yesterday after a local pet shop contacted snake enthusiast Peter Jarvis, a 56-year-old cleaner from Penhill.

Anita said: "It only took him a few minutes to catch it in a pillow case.

"I'm not sure where it came from. Our neighbours used to store wood in their loft which originally came from North America, so the snake might have been brought over in that way."

Jo Barr, regional RSPCA spokeswoman, said: "I apologise if they couldn't get through. We are a charity and have limited resources.

"Between 1999 and 2003 there was a 161 per cent increase in the number of exotic animals being found. We rescue about four snakes every month nationwide.

"People might buy them on a whim not knowing how to look after them and release them in the wild.

"Corn snakes are great escape artists and will hunt out somewhere warm to take shelter."

The RSPCA hotline is 08705 555999.

The secret life of the corn snake

Corn snakes named because of the similarity between their markings and the patterns of Indian corn.

They are also sometimes called the red rat snake.

They are slender, measuring between 24 to 72 inches (61 to 182 cm), and are usually orange or brownish-yellow, with large, black-edged red blotches down the middle of the back.

They climb trees and enter abandoned buildings in search of prey, and are secretive spending most of their time underground prowling through rodent burrows.

They are found in the eastern United States from southern New Jersey south through Florida, west into Louisiana and parts of Kentucky. Corn snakes are most abundant in Florida and the south eastern U.S.

They live up to 23 years in captivity and are not poisonous.

Alex Emery