A grandad was terrified when he discovered a snake in some broccoli he bought from Aldi.
Neville Linton, 63, left the vegetable in his fridge for three days after the shopping trip before discovering the reptile when preparing a meal.
Thoroughly frightened of the snake, Neville had relatives come to his aid and scoop it up.
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He said: "It was pretty frightening. I'm not good with snakes. It's lucky I didn't just leave the broccoli out in the kitchen, or it would have been loose in the house.
"That would have been a huge risk for us because we have two vulnerable people living here."
It was later taken to nearby Dudley Zoo where it was identified as a ladder snake. The species is from south-western Europe and, although not venomous, can give humans a nasty nip.
Neville, from Stourbriddge, spotted the little creature tucked up near the stem of the broccoli when he unwrapped the veg on his kitchen counter.
Quickly realising it was too big to be a caterpillar, he called for his sister Ann-Marie Tenkanemin, 57, who identified it as a snake.
The pair then drove it back to the Aldi store where Neville had bought the veg.
He said: "I thought she was joking at first, but I backed off when I saw it start moving. The guy in the shop was pretty frightened too."
Neville has been offered compensation, but is pushing for more.
He says the amount offered does not compensate him for the risk to his disabled son and vulnerable mother-in-law, who live with him.
He added: "It's just not good enough – the implications for us if it had got out in the house are huge.
"Plus, I'm phobic of snakes so there's the emotional impact of that too."
An Aldi spokesperson said: "Our supplier has never had a complaint of this nature and has robust processes in place to prevent such issues occurring. We are investigating this isolated incident and have apologised to Mr Linton that our usual high standards were not met."
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