Alison Brogden’s workmates enjoyed teasing her that a pet snake missing in her house for ten months was just waiting to bite her.

The 56-year-old feared Coils, a 3ft long Californian King Snake, had died after escaping from her tank last April.

But she discovered Coils was very much alive – when it bit her on her finger as she reached across her bed to grab a pair of jeans.

Miss Brogden’s son Simon Lightfoot had adopted the carnivorous reptile a year ago, because his friend could no longer care for her.

But after a couple of months, Coils made a bid for freedom.

Despite much searching, the family could find no sign of her, and thought Coils may have met her end, entombed when they had cavity wall insulation installed.

But Miss Brogden’s workmate Jerzy Bak routinely teased her about the snake’s disappearance, warning her it would come to seek revenge while she was asleep.

Miss Brogden said: “When it went missing I started to worry, because I didn’t know when it was going to come back. I thought it would wrap itself around my throat in the middle of the night.

“But my workmates just laughed at me, and after a while, I believed we’d never find her.”

But last Thursday, while getting ready for work, a still half-asleep Miss Brogden went to grab a pair of trousers. And had the shock of her life.

She said: “As I bent down to pick up my jeans, Coils had my finger.

“She scared me to death. I had to sit there for half an hour thinking about what I was going to do next – I was petrified.

“I shook my hand and she dropped off.

“I phoned my son and he said: ‘Put her in a bag.’ Miss Brogden said the reptile had previously made her feel so ill at ease, she had only handled it once before it escaped.

She believed the snake had been hibernating in her loft.

Simon, 29, who has now returned the snake to his friend, said: “It is funny.

“I’m glad it happened to her and not me.”

Mr Bak, 35, who works with Miss Brogden at medical equipment company Penlon, on Abingdon Science Park, added: “It is unbelievable and very, very funny.”