An Essex couple's daring dog sniffed out a 5ft snake that was coiled up in their kitchen cupboard.

James and Tina Gamble's Jack Russell, called Jack, alerted its owners to the snake by repeatedly barking at one of their kitchen cupboards.

James Gamble, 63, opened the door - and found a California kingsnake coiled up among the pots and pans.

The police and the RSPCA said that they couldn’t help, so Mr Gamble used a pole and some wire to make a 'snake catcher' pole which he used to pick up the snake and release it onto nearby grassland in Little Bentley, Essex.

Mr Gamble made the shock discovery after his seven-year-old Jack Russell started barking at a cupboard. 

James made a rudimentary 'snake catcher' out of a pole and some wire before gently lifting the snake out of a floorboard below the cupboard, which the snake had retreated into. 

His family have nicknamed him Bear - after intrepid TV presenter and survival expert Bear Grylls - in honour of his exploits on Sunday afternoon.

Sue Coleman, who runs a reptile sanctuary in Harwich, Essex, identified the reptile as a kingsnake, which originates from California and would probably have been an escaped or released pet.

A Tendring Council spokesman said residents would normally be pointed towards the direction of Colchester Zoo or the RSPCA. 

An RSPCA spokesman suggested there may have been 'crossed wires' after police contacted the charity.

California kingsnakes are not poisonous and mainly feed off other snakes.