Bristol deli shop owners were left stunned after discovering a royal python hidden inside their store yesterday morning.
Andrea Axint, 27, recalls the “horrible” moment her partner messaged her to say a snake had made its way inside the Tradition Taste Deli on Broad Street in Staple Hill.
He told her that after reaching for a can of coke, following an early morning delivery, he saw something behind the fridge.
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At first he thought the early start had caused him to see things but after closer inspection, he was stunned by his discovery.
“My partner messaged me saying if I wanted to go to the store, I must call him because there is something inside," she said.
Panicked by this, Ms Axint reached out to the local WhatsApp group for traders in the area to request immediate help as she had no idea what to do.
“Everyone had to run outside the store,” she added.
Having expressed her fears, a local landlady Alex Shuttleworth and her family sprung into action as they have cared for snakes in the past.
Mrs Shuttleworth said when they arrived the shopkeepers “were absolutely petrified” and wanted her family to handle the situation.
Ms Axint said she made numerous calls to the local authorities, but claims they did not believe her.
She told Bristol Live that the snake may have made its way inside their store Wednesday evening (September 9), as its stomach was full.
“I've never seen a snake in this country before, so how did one end up in my store?" she added.
The Staple Hill deli opened last December and while a number of customers have stopped inside, the owners are in disbelief that a snake became one of them.
Ms Axint said the python has now been collected by the local authorities after being kept safely inside a heated tank overnight, which was brought by Mrs Shuttleworth and her husband yesterday evening.
“The last thing we wanted was for anything to happen to the snake,” Mrs Shuttleworth added.
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