RSPCA comes to rescue after slippery customer gives Lincolnshire salon staff the slip

Inspector Sara Jordan was called to the High Street, in Epworth, on Saturday lunchtime (May 12) by terrified staff at a hair salon.

Inspector Jordan said: “The snake was fairly shy and didn’t want to come out from behind a dresser.

“The woman who owns the salon was so scared she ran out of the shop and locked it up.

“She refused to go back inside until the snake was safely secured!

“She wouldn’t even come in with me and decided to wait outside on the other side of the road - she was really petrified, so she must have had quite the fright when they first spotted the slithery customer.

“Perhaps he just wanted a short back and sides - or a cheeky shampoo and set!”

Inspector Jordan found the snake - a grass snake - and confined him before contacting RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre for advice on where to release him.

She drove him to a nearby field and set him free.

“The snake took one look at me and decided to make a slither for it,” she added. “But I was able to catch him and check him over before releasing him in a field nearby - a much better home for a grass snake that in a hair salon!”

Grass snakes are completely harmless to humans and pets, are normally olive green or brown in colour with black bars or spots down the side, often with a yellow and black ‘collar’ which is usually visible behind the head. Occasionally they can be very dark or completely black.

They are the largest British snake and can grow up to 100cm although more commonly measure around 70-90cm.

Grass snakes are protected from being intentionally killed or injured under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

To help the RSPCA with more rescue missions you can make a donation donate by visiting www.rspca.org.uk/give.