POLICE hunting a 14ft snake that went missing from its cage have come face to face with a deadly predator they believe to be the roaming reptile.

Officers have been flooded with calls from concerned residents after Bromley Extra newspaper appealed for information about the whereabouts of the Burmese python that had been reported missing but was then found back in the summer.

On Monday RSPCA inspectors carried out a surprise inspection at the home of a 19-year-old woman in Mottingham who had paid £230 for the 14ft Burmese python a year ago.

She denies her reptile had ever escaped but police intelligence links the address to the garden in which the python was found back in the summer.

The woman’s python was found in a 6ft-long enclosure made of flimsy plywood and plastic with only the very basic facilities required for its care and to stop it escaping.

RSPCA officers raised concerns about the lack of variable heat source to enable the snake the to move to a cooler environment.

They were planning to revisit the property to check improvements have been made.

Inspector Ian Muttitt s aid: “We couldn’t find anything wrong with the snake health-wise, but it did only have the minimum protection we’d expect. As long as it’s got water, a heat source and is able to climb, there’s nothing we can enforce.

“It’s worrying to think some pet shops will sell these animals to anyone. The problem we face is that an animal has to suffer to a large extent for us to take it away.”

PC Ouzman, who led the search, said: “We now know where the snake is kept and have sent a warning to the owner that we are concerned, which should keep her on her toes.

“I would be much happier to see it removed and put in an animal farm where it can be looked after properly. It shocked me to think that a specialist breeder can sell an animal of that size without even doing a home check.”

“I think we have done all we can and we now have closure but we’d like her to consider giving it up to someone who can give it the specialist care it needs.”