Shocked litter picker finds four huge live royal pythons in pillowcases dumped by roadside

A litter picker had a shock when she found two pillowcases by the side of the road - with four huge live pythons inside.

Maria Clutterbuck thought she had found two bags of sand as she did her daily litter pick on the evening of Good Friday.

But as the mother-of-two took a closer look she realised they were pillowcases tied closed with cable ties.

Concerned the bags might contain puppies or kittens, the 54-year-old nudged them with her foot and realised it was likely there were snakes inside.

Unable to contact the local reptile shop in her home town of Hucclecote, Gloucester, after making the discovery at 9pm, she called police for help instead.

She said: "Originally I thought they were sandbags but there had been no road works recently. Then I realised they were cable-tied pillowcases and I think then my gut instinct knew something alive was inside.

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"My first thought was that the bags might contain puppies or kittens. But I had a feel of the curves and it felt like snakeskin.

"Then I nudged one of the pillowcases gently with my foot and it moved - I confess I squealed a bit."

She added: "When I called the police, I did wonder how much of a fool I'd look if they turned out to be washing machine hoses or something.

"But I was 99 per cent sure they were snakes - and when the police arrived and opened them up, I was right."

When police opened the bags, they found two adult royal pythons inside each one.

A friend of Clutterbuck's who lived locally checked her dash cam footage which suggested the snakes had been there since at least 3pm.

By the time they were found, the reptiles were "docile" after being exposed to the cold for so long.

She added: "They would not have survived the night - it was four degrees when I found them.

"It got down to freezing that night too - they would not have survived the temperatures."

She speculated that the snakes may have been dumped by an owner struggling with the costs of running their vivarium.

"Ultimately they are pets and of a considerable size - someone must have had them a long time," she said.

"What goes through your mind dumping them on a side street knowing they could just die?"