Finance Officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust, David King and his wife Marion of Ravensbourne Avenue, Shoreham-by-Sea were intrigued by a number of partial sightings of a rather large snake in their back garden over the past three weeks.

Today, RSPCA officer Tony Pritchard carried out the successful capture of a three feet black corn snake (capable of growing to five feet in length) that had made its home in a log pile at the couple’s home. The corn snake is not poisonous to humans and enjoys a diet of rats, mice and other small mammals.