A slithery surprise was awaiting a gardener when they opened their compost bin.

This corn snake would normally live in the fields of north America - but he seemed quite at home among some rotten vegetables in Hampshire Drive, in Shepway, Maidstone.

The bright orange snake is carnivorous and has fangs but is not venomous. He is about two feet long, but will be double that size when he is full grown.

He has now been taken to Vets4Pets, in Sutton Road, Maidstone after trainee nurse Shirley Hills caught it.

Although her initial attempt was foiled by the appearance of a big spider, eventually the snake was caught with the help of a vet.

She said: “It makes a bit of a change from the cats and dogs we normally get.

“I took big gauntlets down with me, incase it was bigger than it looked in the picture.

“They can bite, although it wouldn’t do a lot of harm."

The brightly coloured intruder wasn’t going hungry, according to Ms Hills it had already been hunting, most likely for mice or frogs, when they found it.

She said: “It wouldn’t have a problem catching food, but they do need quite a high temperature to survive which might why it went into the compost bin.”

Corn snakes, also known as red rat snakes, are a non-venomous species of snake found throughout the south-eastern and central United States.

Ms Hills said they make popular pets, but are normally kept in specialised vivariums with lighting and heating which mimic their natural environment.

A few people have already expressed an interest in adopting the snake but in the meantime it’s got a home at the surgery while they wait for its owners to come forward.