A British backpacker troubled by weeks of nosebleeds found a seven-and-a-half-centimetre long leech had been living up her nose for more than a month.

Daniela Liverani believed the persistent nosebleeds she suffered while travelling around south-east Asia were down to a burst blood vessel from a motorbike crash.

British backpacker Daniela Liverani had a leech up her nose for three weeks. Credit:From Facebook

Days after returning to her Edinburgh home, however, she spotted an object in one nostril that she first dismissed as congealed blood.

The 24-year-old graduate was rushed to the emergency department of Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary after realising she had an animal up her nose.