A RANGER got a shock at the Avon Heath Country Park near Ferndown when he opened up a jammed printer to find a snake looking back at him from inside the machine.

The wily grass snake got into the visitor centre at the park a week ago and has been eluding attempts to capture it ever since, popping up in unlikely places and causing havoc.

The slithery intruder was first spotted by park ranger Katy Thompson. She said: "I just saw a tail disappearing under my desk and I spent about two hours tentatively moving the furniture because I didn't know if it was a grass snake or an adder. I found it and saw it was a grass snake but then it disappeared up into the cavity wall."

A couple of days later ranger Carol Dawkins was sitting at her desk when she heard a rustling but the snake again disappeared before she could grab it.

On Thursday Ian Cross went to print some paperwork in the office and an error message came up on the printer.

He opened up the section where the cartridges were and found the snake looking up at him from inside the machine.

This time he managed to get hold of it and returned the animal, completely unharmed by its adventures, to the outside world.

Grass snakes are the largest reptiles native to the UK. They have been widespread across England but have become rarer in recent years.

They are non-venomous and completely harmless but Mrs Dawkins said: "I am glad it was Ian that found it because it would have given me a shock. I am fairly used to them but there is something about the way snakes slither."