STUDENT James Dawson had to make a jump start when he saw a long snake slither under his car.

James, 18, from West Stafford, near Dorchester, was startled after seeing the four-foot long reptile curling itself around a plastic housing next to the coil in his Honda Accord.

He was worried that it was an adder and left it to crawl away after he was unable to prod it away form his engine.

He was unable to prod the slippery stowaway out of the engine, so he left it to crawl away on its own.

He drove into Weymouth town centre from the college in Cranford Avenue to run some errands after seeing no sight of it in the engine bay.

But on his return to college he checked again and found it back there again.

James said: “I was just amazed when it slithered in under on its own accord.

“It was hard to identify and could have been an adder – they are in Dorset and are poisonous. I was unsure about touching it.”

James, who is a sports student, added: “Having driven to the town centre and back I was pretty sure it had made its getaway after we had left it alone.

“How wrong I was.

“I opened the bonnet and there it was coiled up snug and warm.

“This time I had to make sure it was removed from the car.

“With help, it was positively identified as a grass snake and safely removed.

“One of my friends quipped it could have been a ‘windscreen viper’.

Staff from Weymouth College used a long stick to tease the snake out of the car. The snake was identified and removed.