A NINETEEN-foot python had to be rescued by firefighters yesterday after it made a bid for freedom.

Clio, a 13-year-old Burmese python which weighs 11 stone, smashed open its sealed glass house, forced open a bedroom window and climbed out on to the roof while owners Paul and Karen Mallaby were at work.

After a frantic call from a friend, the couple dashed home.

There they found neighbours brandishing fishing nets, firefighters climbing ladders and children watching in amazement, as Clio explored the roof of the house in Chester Moor, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

Karen said: "Clio was on the roof and it was starting to rain, so we were worried that she might slip - if she'd fallen off she would probably have died.

"But, thankfully, the rain held off, and when the fire brigade sent a ladder up she seemed happy to latch on to the ladder and slither down.

"We were all very relieved because she could have been in real trouble."

Her husband Paul said: "It's just as well she came down or we could be looking for someone's dog now."

The family say Clio made her bid for freedom because she was enticed into the open air by warm sunshine shining into the first -floor room.

Now, re-united with her owners, Clio was relaxing in her newly-sealed glass house last night.