The woman was driving along a country road in Somerset on Thursday when the exhaust pipe of the vehicle in front appeared to come loose and drop on to the road.

She swerved to avoid it and was amazed to discover the object was a bewildered boa constrictor.

It is believed the snake had either escaped or was an abandoned pet which had coiled around the engine compartment as somewhere warm to spend the night.

'Lucky escape'

The snake was taken to the Secret World animal rescue centre at Highbridge, Somerset, where workers have named it Ebeneezer Squeezer.

Ellie West from the rescue centre said the reptile was lucky to escape with relatively minor injuries from its ordeal.

"It looked like she had a broken jaw at first," she told the BBC.

"Luckily an x-ray proved us wrong and all she has is muscle damage.

"She has quite a few bruises along the body, where she was scuffed along the Tarmac, and a few broken ribs but she is very lucky to be alive."