A NEAR HISS

6ft wall-dwelling snakes loose in homes after zoo escape are no threat to humans

- NADA FARHOUD

A SNAKE that can grow up to 6ft long is living in British attics and walls.

The aesculapian - one of Europe's largest is native to warmer parts of the continent, including southern France and much of Italy.

It was not seen in the UK for 300,000 years but it was accidentally reintroduced in the 1970s after one escaped from the Welsh Mountain Zoo, in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.