A golfer has told of his shock after spotting a 3ft long poisonous SNAKE slithering across a UK course as he went to play a shot on the green.

Businessman Dan Owen, 58, had been enjoying nine holes in the sun after work when he came across the reptile at Belton Woods Golf Course, in Grantham, Lincs.

He said at first he thought it was a stick lying in the grass before he was given a fright when it started to move and made a beeline for the nearby woods.

Dan managed to grab his mobile phone to film the getaway on the seventh hole before the slippery customer disappeared into the undergrowth on Tuesday (25/6).

He reckons the creature may have been a black adder, which are rare in the UK, but can carry a venomous bite - in some cases inducing kidney failure.