THE owner of a pet snake found in Britain’s oldest maltings is being sought by a local veterinary practice.

The female corn snake was found on Tuesday by Mark Young, a maintenance engineer at Warminster Maltings Ltd.

Mr Young, 53, said: “It was a bit shocked and surprised at first.

“I was using a fork lift truck to shift some bags of malt barley into a hopper to be crushed.

“That’s when I saw it stretched out alongside a metal cabinet between the floor and a wall.

“It looked like a piece of brown rope and when I went to investigate I discovered it had darker markings.

“At that point, I called for assistance and one of our lorry drivers, Ian Sainsbury, came in to give me a hand.”

Mr Sainsbury went to his lorry cab to fetch a pair of gloves and between the two of them they used a towel to pick up the snake and drop it into a maltings sack.

“It looked to be quite quiet when I saw it but it got a little bit agitated when we picked it up to try and put in the sack,” said Mr Young, of Manor Gardens, Warminster.

“I took the snake to Harris, Hill & Gibbons vets in Warminster and they identified it as a corn snake.”

The practice checked the snake for a microchip but couldn’t find one and then phoned a specialist snake rescuer who called in later to collect it.

A Harris, Hill & Gibbons spokeswoman said: “We’re still waiting for the owner to come forward but in the meantime she’s gone to a snake rescuer to be looked after.”

Mr Young has worked at Warminster Maltings, which was founded in 1855, for the past 15 years. He added: “This is the first time that I’ve ever found a snake on the premises and hopefully it will be the last.”

“I took some photographs of the snake and showed them to my wife, Marcia, and three children, Bradley, Kirsty and Kyle, when I got home.”

The corn snake, a rat-hunting constrictor snake, is native to the USA. Its docile nature, reluctance to bite, moderate adult size, attractive pattern and comparatively simple care means corn snakes are commonly kept as pets in this country.

If you’ve lost a corn snake or know someone who has, contact 01985 213522 or 01225 863221.