A family got a fright when they found a four-foot python hiding in their boiler - four months after its owner discovered it was missing.

The snake is believed to have slithered into the house overnight through the catflap looking for somewhere warm and safe to hide.

Now returned to his owner, Sid, a fully-grown male around four feet long, is a royal python, a type of constrictor snake.

Dhan Ramdharry and his wife and three children were preparing for breakfast the next morning when they noticed the cover of the boiler was loose before the serpent poked its head out.

Dhan's wife Kelly has a severe phobia of snakes and suffered a panic attack when she saw it and fled. Their 13-year-old son Brandon also left the house but children Ruby, nine, and Marley, 14, were keen to watch what happened.

Dhan, a care home owner, tried calling the RSPCA and the local vets with no luck, so summoned Jason Miller from a pet store in Bournemouth, Dorset.

The snake was identified as a royal python, a type of constrictor snake. It is a popular pet due to its typically docile temperament.

Jason recovered the snake, a fully-grown male of about 4ft in length, and is now looking after it at his shop, Reptiles Plus.

Dhan, 38, said: "I'd been in the kitchen all morning and I hadn't even noticed the cover of the boiler was partly off. My son said 'what's that?' and my wife started screaming 'it's a snake'.

"Kelly has a huge phobia of snakes, she can't even look at a picture of one. She had a panic attack and ran out of the room crying.

"My daughter wanted to hold it, my younger son ran to a friend's house and wouldn't come back and my other son got a golf club.

"I kept thinking 'is this real? Is it plastic?' but it was watching me and followed me every time I moved.

"We had the heating on the night before because it suddenly went a bit chilly. The reptile guy said they see infra-red heat so it would have seen our house was noticeably warmer than others.

"Thankfully we had been in our lounge watching TV that night. If we had seen a snake slither across the floor I think even I would've had a heart attack.

"My poor wife can't sleep since it happened. She keeps waking up thinking a snake is on her.

"We were lucky. Other types of python can be aggressive and will strike and bite but this one isn't generally. Obviously I didn't know that at the time. I don't have a huge problem with snakes but it has freaked us all out."

Although most of the family were left shaken by the incident, nine-year-old Ruby now wants a pet snake.

And Baxter, the family's pet beagle dog - a scent hound, bred for its tracking ability - is in the doghouse after failing to notice the intruder.

Dhan said: "He's meant to be a hunting dog and he just sat in the lounge. His nose must be broken."

The family have also taken to locking the catflap at night, until Kelly feels better.

Mr Ramdharry said: “It turns out the snake went missing four months ago. “He's 18 years old and his owner has had him since he was a little boy aged eight. The owner was really gutted when he disappeared so it's great news.”

Jason, from Reptiles Plus in Bournemouth, said: "It's very unlikely that a person has dumped the snake. The chances are it pushed its way out through a vent or someone left its tank open.

"If the weather is too cold the animal can't eat or do anything, so it's probably gone inside looking for somewhere safe to hide, it certainly wouldn't be looking for food. They want to be left alone to conserve their energy.

"If it did bite it would be a very mild scratch. A stray dog or cat would give you a far worse injury."

Royal pythons - python regius in Latin - are the smallest of the African pythons and typically range in size from 3ft to 5ft. They live for an average of 20 to 30 years in captivity and are generally active during the night and hide during the day.

Their diet consists of small mammals such as rats, shrews and mice.