A BASILDON woman has had a “shocking” wakeup call after taking a nap to find a three-foot-long snake coming through her bedroom window.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, was at her home in Hereford Walk when she woke up to find an intruder coming through her open bedroom window.

As she opened her eyes, there was a three-foot-long snake at her window, causing her a “terrible shock”.

The Basildon woman leapt out of bed, shot out of her bedroom, firmly closing the door behind her, before calling the RSPCA for help.

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Enola Evans, RSCPA animal recuse officer, was sent to the scene just one month into her role.

She said: “It is not every you get woken up by a snake trying to get into your bedroom through a window – the woman was terribly shocked.

“Without an accurate identification of the snake, a rescue could have potentially been hazardous.

“But luckily, the photo she had managed to take confirmed to me that it was a corn snake, which is a non-venomous exotic reptile often kept as a pet.”

By the time Enola had go there she couldn’t find the snake… until moments before she was going to leave, and it appeared round the rim of the window!

She added: “By this time, there was no sign of the snake at the window, so the resident gave me permission to search her bedroom, in case it had come inside and hidden somewhere warm. 

“But after thoroughly checking bed linen, and other possible hiding places in the bedroom, the snake was still nowhere to be found.

“As the window had been open for so long, it was getting quite chilly in there, so I decided to shut it. 

“That’s when I spotted something moving.  It was the snake, coiled around the window’s rim! He had been very well-hidden, so I was really pleased to find him. 

"I am experienced at handling snakes as I worked with reptiles in my previous job then underwent specific exotics training when I joined the RSPCA recently as an animal rescue officer.

“I gently transferred the snake into a carrier before taking him to be cared for at an expert boarding facility. Hopefully, we will be able to reunite him with his owners if he is an escaped pet, otherwise he will be put up for adoption.”