Suffolk man finds large black snake in back garden

Experts are trying to determine whether the creature was a Mexican Kingsnake. Credit: PA

A father-of-three from Ipswich had a 'near hiss' when he found a large black snake he feared was a deadly constricter in his back garden.

Mark Sampson, 44, was working outside his home in when he spotted the 4ft snake under a railway sleeper on Sunday afternoon.

Mark issued a cry for help on his Facebook page and also contacted his friend, Kevin Wallace, who is a zoologist at Otley College.

He went round immediately to rescue the snake, lifting it into a sack with the help of another friend Kat who had no experience of snakes.

Mark has no idea how the snake got in his garden. Credit: PA

The rescue was captured on camera by Mark's daughters.

Experts are now trying to determine whether the creature is just a large grass snake or a Mexican Kingsnake, native to the Sonora Desert on the Mexican-US border.

Although Mexican Kingsnakes are not poisonous, they are constrictors which kill their prey by asphyxiation.