An eight-foot python gave a truck driver the scare of his life when he stopped for a toilet break and saw the huge snake watching him while he relieved himself.

The startled writer told the York Press, that he was urinating on a tree along the A59 highway near Knaresborough in Yorkshire, England when he saw the python watching him. The snake slithered toward his feet before climbing up the tree.

The man called police who alerted RSPCA staff.

Animal collection officer Helen Martindale said, "The python had wrapped itself around one the branches of the tree and was sitting there staring at us. It was much bigger than any snakes I've dealt with before. Occasionally, we've had corn snakes that have escaped, but nothing like this.

"The driver said he got the shock of his life when he saw it crawling out of the bushes."

Authorities believe the snake escaped from its pet owner or was abandoned. It was put in a box and taken to a sanctuary in Knaresborough.