Grass snake causes chaos at warehouse

9:31am Wednesday 29th August 2007

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A GRASS snake caused mass panic at a plumbers' merchant.

One of the warehouses had to be closed at Ashworth's in Higher Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, for almost six hours when the two-and-a-half foot reptile was discovered by an employee.

The doors were closed and staff were barred from entering the warehouse amid fears it was a rare and poisonous snake which had been brought to England in a shipment of pipes from India.

Two brave employees were given the task of guarding the snake while staff waited nervously for experts to arrive and identify the reptile.

It is believed the snake, which was green with a black and white collar, lashed out at one of the warehouse employees, before falling asleep in a corner.

Finally, after faxing photographs and relaying a description to snake experts at the Reptile Rescue Centre in Hawkshaw, staff at Ashworth's were reassured the snake was a harmless grass snake, native to England. It was taken to the centre just before 6pm yesterday.

Antony Poppleton, of Sain-Gobain, the parent company of Ashworth's, said: "The manager did exactly as we would have expected him to do.

"There had been a crate of pipes that had come into the warehouse that morning from India and we were unsure what the snake was, whether it was a humble grass snake, or something far more sinister.

"The warehouse was immediately closed until we could get an expert to confirm it was a grass snake."