TESTS are being conducted on two dogs amid claims they were bitten by snakes in a Darlington field.

The owners of the Blue, a lurcher, and Staffordshire bull terrier Brandy believe their pets were attacked by adders hiding in grass in the Bellburn Lane Field area in two separate incidents last week.

Both dogs are currently recovering and tests are being conducted.

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However, one expert suggested adders in Darlington were "about as likely as a shark swimming up the Tees" due to their natural habitat being heathlands.

Jim Cokill, from the Durham Wildlife Trust, added: “That a population of adders had survived in the area in question whilst the town grew around them, and all that time the snakes remained undiscovered, would be very surprising, to say the least.

“There are lots of questions to investigate – do we know it was an adder, or could an exotic pet have escaped? If it was an adder, how did it get there?”

Speculating further, he said: “There’s currently a raccoon on the loose in Sunderland, so animals do turn up in strange places, but I don’t think the racoon got there on its own.”

In another incident involving a snake, two teenage boys discovered a royal python basking in the sunshine in their back garden inRichmond.

The boys’ mother Maggie Dingwall contacted Wetheriggs Animal Rescue Centre near Barnard Castle and the team took the snake back to their headquarters just of the A66 at Thorpe Farm Centre.

Ms Dingwall said: “The boys were more intrigued than anything else. I’m terrified of snakes so I’m glad it wasn’t me that found it. It certainly wasn’t your typical Thursday evening.”

Terry Bowes, director of Wetheriggs, said: “We are now waiting to see if anyone with a missing royal python comes forward but we will carry out checks before we let anyone take it.

“We don’t want it to escape again.”

In a third snake-related incident, Cleveland Police are currently searching for three snake hatchlings that were stolen on Tuesday, July 28 from Petmania at the Cleveland Retail Park.

Two of the hatchlings were Hognose Anaconda snakes and one was a Bredli Python, both breeds not considered dangerous.

Anyone with information regarding the theft of the snakes is asked to contact PC Jeffrey Cockerill on the non-emergency number 101.

Anyone with information on the Royal Python should contact on 07764-352835.