A pensioner went to the toilet in the middle of the night and found a 13ft long python hiding behind the bowl.

Widower Dim Kittikorn, 85, wandered into the bathroom at 12.30am on August 28 in Chachoengsao, Thailand.

She pulled open the door but screamed in fright and quickly slammed it shut after seeing the snake coiled round the toilet.

The great-grandmother called rescuers who arrived and dragged the wriggling beast out into the street.

Dim said: ''I had just walked from the couch to the bathroom and was still sleepy. I'd just woken up in the night.

''I feel lucky I saw the snake before sitting down on the toilet or it could have grabbed my legs.

''I screamed for people in the house to wake up. They called for the rescue men to come.''

Snake catchers in the Bangpakong district arrived and carried the snake outside where it writhed around on the roadside as it tried to break free.

The creature was bagged up and driven away to be released back into the wild.