A deadly snake was found in a shipping container, and animal hospital staff were so scared they sealed the room it was in with tape

• One of the world's deadliest snakes was found in a UK shipping container, an animal hospital said.
• It said the snake is "believed to have killed more people than all the other species combined."

One of the most dangerous snakes in the world was found in a shipping container arriving in the UK from India, and staff at an animal hospital were so scared that they locked it in a box and sealed the entire room, the hospital said.

The South Essex Wildlife Hospital tweeted that a saw-scaled viper was discovered on Sunday, and that the snake is "way up there in the top few most deadly snakes."

The hospital said the snake "is believed to have killed more people than all the other species combined," and it described the one found as "very agitated and aggressive."

It said the snake was likely to kill someone, so a hospital staff member put the snake in a locked box and sealed the room the box was in with tape.

It said the room where the snake was kept had "warning signs" and that an "appropriate facility" was due to collect it.

The hospital said it had received a call "about a critter that is definitely not in the country it should have been."

It said staff "understood fully the gravity of just how dangerous these reptiles are," as they had encountered one before.

It added, "We are glad not to have to deal with venomous creatures too often but feel sad for the snake that we can't give it its freedom and get it back home."