A snake measuring over 1.83m (6ft) was today found curled up in a toilet bowl in a 10th floor flat, in northern Australia.

It is not known how long the black-headed python had been traveling through the sewage pipes before deciding to take a break in an apartment block in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Snake-catcher Chris Peberdy, who was called to rescue the reptile, told the Northern Territory News that it was likely to have been an escaped pet.

"When I saw it I was pretty shocked. It's one thing in the territory to have a green frog in the toilet, but not a six-foot python,'' he said.

"It would certainly scare you if it came up from the depths of the toilet.''

Peberdy said the non-poisonous snake, which was "as thick as someone's wrist", could only have got into the room through the sewer pipes.

"I had to give him a good wash as he was wet and a bit smelly,'' said the snake expert.

Although the python was not poisonous, Peberdy warned the incident could have had an unhappy ending.

"This could have ended in disaster. Someone could have had a heart attack if they came across it, or the snake could have been killed and chopped up into little pieces.''