Large snakes were saved by M5 workmen who accidentally sucked up the family near Bristol using a vacuuum.
Concerned for their safety, VAC UK's team abandoned the improvement works, near to Portbury Docks, to attempt to free the serpents from their vacuum excavator.
And despite being sucked up at high speeds, crews were able to recover the grass snakes and set them back into the wild.
A VAC spokesperson said: "You may have heard of ‘Snakes on a Plane’, but it’s very unlikely that you have heard of snakes on a motorway lane.
"That is, unless you are one of the VAC UK workers who was working on a motorway job near the Royal Portbury Docks in the Bristol Channel this week.
"These workers were unfortunate enough to come into contact with a family of slippery snakes while conducting their work.
"While digging holes to improve the motorway, the adders were sucked up through a at a suction speed of 375KW."
Luckily for the snakes, crews were using a vacuum excavator rather than a traditional one, which may have proved more deadly.
"They were returned to their habitat, while those within the VAC UK work crew, were relieved that they could get back to work without the need to call in a snake charmer," the spokesperson added.
Grass snakes are the UK’s largest snakes and are particularly fond of wetland habitats, but they can also be found in dry grasslands and in gardens
