A MAN went on trial yesterday accused of keeping crocodiles, alligators, pythons and terrapins in squalid conditions in an old outbuilding.

Colin Shaw, 41, is facing 27 separate charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the exotic animals.

Lawyers for the RSPCA say his collection of reptiles had been living in "woefully inadequate" conditions in a "ramshackle, dilapidated stand-alone barn" on the outskirts of Wingate, County Durham.

Mr Shaw, of Market Crescent, Wingate, denies the catalogue of cruelty cases. His trial at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court is expected to last three weeks.

After showing a 40-minute video taken when the RSPCA raided the barn in October 2001, Jamie Adamson, prosecuting, said: "The RSPCA officers were appalled at what they found.

"Inside was very poorly lit and smelled strongly of ammonia. The conditions were woefully inadequate."

He said the animal pens had not been cleaned out properly and they had been left with very little water to either bathe in or drink.

After the animals were examined, RSPCA vet Hannah Bold recommended they should be taken away and kept in a sanctuary, but an appeal by Mr Shaw later saw them returned.

The animals found during the raid included a male albino Burmese rock python, white-throated monitor lizard, a huge green anaconda snake, terrapins, crocodiles, alligators and rats.