A shopper said "all hell broke loose" when a woman brought her six-foot-long snake into a newsagents.
Alwyn Maynard, 52, had only visited a newsagents in Tuebrook, Liverpool, for a bottle of water but was stunned to walk in and notice a lady with a large snake wrapped around her neck.
In baffling footage shot last Tuesday, the snake, that Alwyn believes was a boa constrictor or python, stretches towards the counter without its owner noticing, and by the time Alywn warns her it slithers over the top. A terrified shop assistant can be heard screaming inconsolably as she flees to the end of the store while the snake wraps itself between a box of mints "as if it's stealing them for it sweet tooth" and climbs onto the till.
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Alwyn continued to watch on as the terrified shop assistant repeatedly orders her to "go now" despite the snake battling to escape its owner and wreak havoc. The railway station worker joked he didn't get involved because he "didn't want to be strangled by it" and insists he didn't have any sympathy for its owner.
Alwyn, who lives in Hatton Garden, Liverpool, said: "She just didn't seem to know what the snake was doing behind her. It must have had a sweet tooth. I just felt so sorry for the shopkeeper. She must have had a bad experience with a snake as a young child because she was absolutely terrified. All hell broke loose.
"I don't think I've ever heard screams like that. Every time she screamed it was an octave higher. She must have felt trapped. They probably dealt with people trying to rob them, but all that pales into insignificance with this. It is a bit different from a snake trying to steal from your shop.
"Why would you bring a six-feet snake to the local shop? You'd just leave it at home. I don't think she will bring it to a shop again. I wasn't very sympathetic. She was apologising for knocking the mints on the floor, but not the snake. She just lost control of it. It had a mind of its own.
"I didn't want to get strangled by a snake so I didn't get involved. That's how they kill their prey and I didn't want to be its next victim. I left without the water in the end."
Alwyn, who admits it was a "really nice-looking creature", says the woman managed to wrestle her reptile back over the counter after around three minutes. The 51-year-old joked the shop is now likely to have a "no pets allowed" sign in the window after the mid-afternoon traumatic experience.
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